Can't Be Tamed
by The Angry Lioness
Summary: The team, minus Cobb, reunite to perform an extraction on a rebellious teen idol with Duke, their new Extractor. Is the daughter of a legendary rocker participating in the Illuminati, or is the "bad seed" being used?
1. The Teen Idol

"Donna Joe, the door!" Monique cried from her hiding spot. Her coworker turned to see that the high winds blew the door to the restaurant open. It was rather unusual for a tornado to hit a small town like Venus, Louisiana, but to the people's shock, it was happening.

Monique and Donna Joe were two waitresses at Cajun Spice, a restaurant at a road stop. Monique was the scardy cat of the two, always running from a situation. Donna Joe was the foul-mouthed daredevil and the only worker at Cajun Spice who was not a single drop Southern. She ran over to the front door and tried to pull it close.

"It wont fucking move!" she grit her teeth with frustration. Her long dark brown hair blew back.

"Pull harder!" The Southern Belle told her. "Hurry up, it's coming!"

Donna Joe made another attempt to lock the door, playing tug of war with the grey funnel racing towards them. Everything inside was rattling and swinging as if a poltergeist were occurring. Monique looked nervously up at the hanging lights. She could see the screws withdrawing from them.

"Donna!" she warned. The light closet to her snapped off the ceiling and banged right into Donna Joe's skull. Monique screamed as her friend went out cold. The storm was going to hit in a few seconds. She ducked down behind the bar as the roaring funnel fanned through their workspace. Donna Joe's body was sucked into the windy vortex.

Monique sat up trying to avoid shards of broken shot glasses. To her horror, everything was gone. Her grandfather's dream restaurant was eaten up leaving behind leaky pipes and flaming stoves.

"Donna Joe!" she coughed. Monique looked at the spot where Donna Joe was knocked out only to see some cracked wood and more broken glass. When she turned around, tears formed in her eyes as the storm carried her best friend away.

A quarter mile beyond the wreckage, Donna Joe was spat out and fell onto the field at thirty feet. Her body landed with a thump. She opened her eyes to see that to her shock, she was fine. The only thing that hurt were her hips. Donna stood up and started walking away from the storm to see if Monique was ok.

"And cut!" The actress turned around and switched out of character after the director called the scene to end. "Nice job Miss Alvers."

"Thanks Mr. Granger." She said. Monique, or in this case Dina Granger, the directors daughter was soon caught up with her popular co-star.

"That was real scary." She said in her real Southern accent. "How do ya'll last through 'em?"

Jayne Alvers turned around. "Sweetie, I've been in movies with scary stunts since I was eight."

"The thought of being spun around in one of 'dose things gives me the creeps." The ginger shuddered.

"It's just like riding a tilt-a-whirl but with no safety equipment." Said Jayne heading towards her trailer. "Can you ask your dad if were done? I'm exhausted."

"Ah'll ask him. Ah think we maight be done."

Jayne stepped inside her trailer to have a drink and take a nap. Even though the director would never permit her to sleep on set overnight, she always rested between scenes. Dina knocked on her door and announced that they were officially done for the day. Jayne sighed with relief and closed her eyes.

Jayne Alvers was the daughter of Lance Alvers, a famous musician known for the songs he wrote. She inherited his bravery and ability to sing. In Jayne's acting career she was in about ten movies, most of them too inappropriate for her age group. All three of her rock albums had the explicit warning label on them. She dressed in punk-rock attire and never wore a thread of pink. Some people were scared to death of her because she could have been a little hot headed. Other's thought she was just another bitchy teen idol.

That night after work, Jayne went to a local Cajun nightclub with her boyfriend Shane Peters. They met up with some friends there and sat down to have a few sodas.

"So Jayne, what's the status on the movie?" her best friend Ivory asked.

"I got sucked up in a funnel and tossed several feet in the air." Said Jayne as she sipped her Diet Pepsi. "Another scene, another stunt."

"So…" Shane began. "Can Dina act?"

Jayne laughed and shook her head. "I must have been high on something when I found out she would work alongside me and still agreed to do it."

"It's just your excuse for pulling stunts." Said Nolan, Ivory's boyfriend.

"It's fun." Jayne defended. "Either this movie will hit or miss. But the Oscar I got last year will help me recover."

"What's next?" Ivory asked.

"Getting another drink. But I will be back to tell you about a musical I'm thinking about auditioning for." Jayne pulled out of her chair and walked over to the bar. As she was waiting for the bartender, a tan blonde sat down in Jaynes seat with paper and a pen.

"Shane Peters." She gawked. Shane faked a smile as Ivory looked over at his uneasy expression. He still wasn't used to the fan girls who would cry whenever he sang. "Can ya sign this for me please?"

Shane shrugged. "I suppose." He said pushing the pen open. "What's your name?"

"Bella." Said the blonde. "Ah love your music." Shane chuckled as he scribbled his name.

"There you go." He assumed she would leave after but she lingered on Jayne's seat. Her tan arm reached out for his hand and when they made contact, she rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand.

"You are so hot." She purred. "I can't believe you're here in Louisiana!"

"Uh excuse me blondie," Ivory barged in. "Shane is dating Jayne Alvers in case if you didn't know."

"Oh Ah know." Bella hissed. "And ya'll blonde too."

"My hair is _white_! Solid _white_! I was born this way!" Ivory snapped.

"The supermodel pageant queen is pissed." Bella taunted. "Ah always knew models were bitches. So where is your girlfriend?"

"Ah hem." A cough shot through Bella's ear urging her to turn around. Jayne was standing there with a hand on her hip.

"Your fucked now." Said Nolan.

"Let's make this quick before the paparazzi get here." Jayne stated. "I have a cold drink on me and a fist that can smash through your skull. I will count to three. If your not gone by three, I'll make sure you never get another date."

"Ya'll don't scare me."

"A little advice," Ivory warned. "Run."

Bella laughed resulting in Jayne to pull off her earrings.

"Hold these!" she barked to Ivory.

"Jayne, no!" Ivory begged. "You'll get arrested!"

"I'm not going to kill her." Jayne snapped. "In fact, this is the cheapest move in the book." She flung her drink in Bella's face and shoved the ice down her bra. Bella overreacted to the humiliation tactic and called her many bad words before fleeing.

"I'm leaving," said Jayne in a pissed-off tone.

"Should I come with you?" Shane asked. Jayne kissed him long enough to catch people's attention.

"No." his girlfriend shook her head. "I need to be alone."

The teen idol walked into the parking lot of the bar. Half of the lot was full but there was no one outside. She stepped toward her old Jeep Wrangler that used to be her fathers. Jayne could afford a nicer car but the green Jeep was a symbol of pride.

"Miss Alvers." A Cajun accent called.

Jayne turned around spinning her key ring between her fingers.

"Yeah."

"We need a favor from you."

A small village in Kenya was gathered around the newly built school they received. The designer of the building was a woman named Ariadne. She stood behind the red ribbon in a t-shirt and shorts with one of her many scarves on. Sitting beside her was Sam, the village lioness. The village people applauded as Ariadne cut the ribbon with the big scissors she held. Now the children there had a place to learn with real teachers and reliable resources.

Her cell phone started to ring. Ariadne thought the village had no reception but she walked off to answer it. Sam followed her to the side of the building.

"Hello?"

"It's been a long time." His voice soothed.

"Arthur! It has been a long time!" She grew excited suddenly at the sound of his voice.

"I have an assignment and I was hoping—"

"Yes!" she interrupted. "Of course I'll be your architect!"

"Where are you?"

"I'm in Kenya." She said. "Not in Mombasa though."

"I'll have a jet pick you up and bring you to Paris."

"Is Eames coming?" Ariadne pet Sam's head and scratched the lion's ears.

"Yes, Eames is coming." She sensed irritation at the mention of the Forger.

"Since Cobb's retired… are we getting a new extractor?" The architect expected him to say no for some odd reason.

"Yes we are. His name is Duke Gorgan and he's meeting us in Paris."

"And Yusuf?"

"I called Yusuf. He's coming too."

"Awesome! I'll see you in Paris then."


	2. Yusuf's Cat

On a normal basis, Arthur would never find himself reading gossip magazines. But there he was, sitting at his desk at the same warehouse as before, reading _People_ magazine. Inside the issue, Jayne was being interviewed about her new movie _Beastly_, a modern day darker version of _Beauty and the Beast_.

He thought it would help him understand her personality more. When Jayne was asked if she thought she was like Belle, she answered, _"I don't look at people from the outside or from magazines and immediately judge them. It's wrong. So yes, in a way I think I'm a lot like Belle, not just lookalike wise. When I met [my current boyfriend] Shane, I didn't fall in love with him because of his looks. I got to know him first."_

Again, he didn't believe that he even agreed to do this assignment. He loved his job more than anything, but to go inside the mind of a teen idol? All the past Marks were businessmen that most people didn't know they even existed. But this girl had fan bases in every country. Half of the planet knew who Jayne Alvers was.

And the client actually believes that she's involved with the Cajun Illuminati? When Duke told Arthur over the phone the situation, Arthur laughed and said, "Is this a joke?" Was there even a Cajun Illuminati? What would they want with Ms. Alvers in the first place?

To his dismay, Eames was the first to arrive. He was like the Nash of Forgers; Arthur didn't like him.

"So what kind of assignment do we have, darling?" he asked. Arthur showed him a magazine with Jayne Alvers in the front. One second later, his head was on the table crying with laughter. "You'll do anything for work, won't you, you stick-in-the-mud?" Arthur rolled his eyes and hit the magazine against the table.

"I wasn't so sure when I heard either." Arthur argued. "But it was too interesting to pass on."

"What are we extracting anyway?" Eames questioned still chuckling. "Ah, you kill me, Darling."

"The client Mr. Granger thinks that she's involved with the Cajun Illuminati." Said Arthur. "He's familiar with them because his father was in it. He made him confess to it and now Jayne is behaving and showing signs the same way his father did."

"How so?"

"He saw a cut on her abdomen that was exactly the same as the cut the member's have."

"Well there's your proof."

"Not exactly." Arthur told him. "There's obviously more than one possible answer and you're the only Forger that can do the job."

"That's flattering, thank you Darling. So what do I do, impersonate one of her little friends?"

"That could work." Said Arthur. "But it would have to be someone she's been close to for a long time. And I just know how much you love impersonating women."

"You saw me in the lobby didn't you?"

"My subconscious would never look like that." Said Arthur. "I knew it had to be you."

"So you know I saw you kiss a certain young architect then, right?"

"Excuse me?"

"I saw you two." Eames teased.

"It was to distract the projections." Arthur explained. "Nothing more."

"I don't believe you." There was a knock on the door and Arthur went to answer it. "Check your breath first, it might be her!" Outside, Yusuf was standing with an umbrella over his head. The Point Man was curious to know why Yusuf had a cat in his arms. He came in right away.

"Where's the new extractor?"

"Duke will not be here for a while." Said Arthur. "He told me he had some emergency to attend to but he'll be coming in a few days."

"And who's the Mark this time?"

"Jayne Alvers!" Eames shouted from across the room.

"Who?" Yusuf asked confused.

"Jayne Alvers is an American teen idol." Said Arthur. "Her father is Lance Alvers who is said to be legendary and her mom is a fighter."

"You know that 'Give It Up' song?" Eames asked. "She sings that."

"Never heard it." Said Yusuf. He walked over to the desk and picked up the copy of In Style with her on the cover. The chemist was surprised by what he was seeing.

This was an eighteen-year-old girl, not some old rich man. Her mismatched eyes fascinated him. He knew that people airbrushed fashion magazines, but he never saw a human with one brown eye and one blue eye. Jayne's skin was whiter than paper and her long hair was darker than his.

"She looks like a vampire." He commented.

"I love the catfight she has with Miley Cyrus." Said Eames.

"What happened?"

"Jayne said in an interview one time that she refused to collaborate with her because Miley had no talent what-so-ever and called her a slut. I thought Miley would get over it but instead she tries to fight back. Nothing's worked so far."

"Who's Miley Cyrus?" Yusuf asked.

"Forget I said anything." Eames sighed. "Do you really just sit in a lab all day?"

"Of course not."

"Oh yeah, I remember you take bathroom breaks often."

"Oh ha ha bloody ha." Yusuf spat.

"So why do you have a cat with you?" Arthur asked.

"I couldn't leave her alone again. I just had to bring her. She won't be any trouble." Said Yusuf as he stroked the stripped cats head. She jumped out of his arms and hit the ground gracefully, trotting over to Arthur with her tail up. He stood still as the cat brushed herself against him.

"And the cats name is…" Eames asked.

"Bast." Said Yusuf.

"What kind of name is that?"

"Bast is the Egyptian goddess of cats." Yusuf explained. "I hope you don't mind."

"Well she can't give away anything." Said Arthur. "And as long as you keep a litter box in the corner."

"She's actually pretty cute." Eames bent down to pet Bast. When those yellow eyes saw his fingers, her spine curved and she hissed like a dragon. "Is that normal?"

"No." Yusuf chuckled.

"Well look at it this way," Eames told Arthur. "At least someone's attracted to you."

Another gentle knock echoed in the big room. Arthur cleared his throat and went to open it. Eames elbowed Yusuf, his eyebrows high and his grin huge.

**So what do you think as of now? Have any predictions or comments? **

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Inception**_**. But I would make Saito buy it for me, but then I might fuck it up.**


	3. Eames's Man Crush

"I'm there right now." Jayne lay on her stomach as she spoke on the phone. "Yeah it hurts. He's still doing it."

She was at the tattoo parlor while on break. For a while, she had a certain tattoo in mind. Now she was lying on the table, her tank top pulled up. The man at the end of the table was drawing over her lower back with the tattoo gun.

"I think he's almost done." She told the person. "Yeah, I didn't tell Granger a thing… Yeah, I am gonna go to that Halloween party. Lucy, Ivory and I are going as Pokémon. We're performing… ok bye."

"Doin' well for yer first tattoo." Said the artist.

"I've felt worse pain."

She stepped out of the parlor pulling her shirt down to hide the new ink.

Ariadne did not think to stop at her apartment to drop her luggage off. She didn't bring much anyway. Where she stayed, showers were scarce, so she only showered once a week and the water was cold. She still smelled like a lioness. Hopefully none of the men would notice. But Arthur might. A guy like him would change his outfit if he had a tiny spot anywhere. Whenever she was around him, he smelled like cologne.

Arthur… surprisingly, after they departed, she had trouble getting him off her mind. He was like an idea incepted into her mind. His face was impossible to get out. Shakespeare might describe him as "A man of wax" if he was still around.

As she ran up to the warehouse door with her hands full, Ariadne wondered if going in was a good idea. After all, he was there. What if something happened?

She already agreed to be his architect and he couldn't hire anyone better. Cautiously, she knocked on the warehouse door. Her spine tensed with every second. The door opened and Arthur stood there. Being the gentlemen he was, he took her bags and invited her in.

Ariadne entered the warehouse and shut the doors. The rain continued to clatter outside.

"I assume you were on vacation. Did you graduate?" Eames looked at her bags.

"Not exactly… well yes, I graduated but I didn't go on a vacation."

"Then what's all that?"

"I was in Africa." She explained. "Helping out. So who's the Mark?" Her voice grew excited.

Eames chuckled again and Yusuf shrugged in confusion. Arthur sighed. "He's laughing because the Mark is Jayne Alvers."

Ariadne's eyebrows went up. "Like the singer Jayne Alvers?"

"Exactly." said Arthur. "The client believes she is with a gang plotting against him. We just need to find out if it's true. If she knows about any plans we have to find them."

"I see. So, have you ever extracted from a celebrity?"

"This would be the first time." Said Arthur. "It's a good thing she's easy to research."

"I should get started on designing a concert hall then." Ariadne felt something fuzzy against her ankle and saw Bast circling around her, purring.

"Why does that cat like everyone but me?" Eames was close to laughing.

"I think she just smells Sam." Ariadne replied. "The village had a lion named Sam and I must still have a scent."

"You touched a lion?" Yusuf asked in shock.

"It was a nice lion." Ariadne argued. "So, really, Jayne Alvers?"

"Yes darling." Eames replied. "I was surprised when I found out myself."

"Well you laughed until you fell to the floor." Said Arthur. "I can tell your already taking this seriously."

"Are you a fan?" Eames asked her ignoring Arthur's remark.

"Not really." Said Ariadne. "My best friend is obsessed. I don't get it. But she was on _Glee_ so she must be talented."

"And how old is your friend? Is she hot?"

"She's too young for you." Ariadne swung back. Yusuf started laughing. "And who's the cat?"

"That's Bast." Said Yusuf between chuckles. "I couldn't leave her again."

"She like's everyone but me." Said Eames. "She even likes Arthur!"

"Who doesn't like Arthur?" Ariadne asked out loud. Suddenly, she felt her cheeks growing hot since she forgot he was standing behind her. Shutting up would be essential but also awkward. "If I didn't know better, I think you have a man crush on him."

Eames went off like a Chinese firecracker in earsplitting laughter. Ariadne crossed her arms and shook her head.

"I think he does too." Said Arthur. The fact that he spoke and that he looked fine made Ariadne's nerves die.

"Now why would you say that?" Eames asked.

"You tease him, you call him names…" Yusuf began. "You make fun of his clothes." At that moment, Arthur straitened his Armani tie and cleared his throat. "But I think you dress sharp."

"Thank you." Said Arthur.

"And I just noticed you two are matching."

Ariadne looked down at her blue scarf and looked over at Arthur to see he was wearing a blue tie in the same tone.

"Yeah." Ariadne picked up. "We decided to wear matching outfits. Tomorrow we're wearing pink." She joked, turning to Arthur. "So does anyone know how Fischer's doing?"

"I'm pretty sure he's fine." Said Arthur. "Why?"

"Because I think he's dating my sister… Does anyone know if that's true?" Recently, whenever Ariadne flipped through a magazine, she would see pictures of Robert Fischer walking with the same woman who was identified as Mirra Boleyn. That was the name of the clothing line Ariadne's sister designed.

"How old is your sister?"

"Way too young for you." Ariadne called back to Eames.

"When I've checked on him I did see him in the paper with another woman. Then again, she looks a bit like you but taller."

"That's her."

"So is there a problem?"

"What if I meet him and he says 'Do I know you?'"

"He's completely forgotten about the dreams." Said Arthur. "If he see's you, he'll have no idea who you are."

Ariadne sighed with relief. "Ok, good. I just wanted to check. Then again, Mirra can't keep a man if it would save her life."

"Do you have anymore sisters?" Eames asked.

"Ok, why do you suddenly want to flirt with my friend and my sisters?"

"So you do have another sister!"

"Who's the same age as Mirra." Said Ariadne. "Besides, I think you have a bigger crush on yourself." Eames was silent; secretly humiliated that she said that out loud. "Anyway, she's supposed to be hosting SNL this weekend…"


	4. Jayne Hosting Saturday Night Live

"So what I know about this girl is that her father is Lance Alvers and her mother is Kitty Pryde." Arthur started. "No siblings, no biological family. Her best friends are Ivory Maximoff and Lucy Allerdyce, both models. Mr. Granger told me she would most likely trust her father the most but she wouldn't confess to him if she was guilty."

"So I'll go in as Ivory then." Said Eames. Ariadne looked at Ivory's picture on the white board.

"Is her hair naturally white?" she asked.

"I don't know." Said Arthur. "Not likely."

"And next in line is Lucy, who has an Australian accent." Eames mentioned. "That should be easy."

"What about her boyfriend?" Yusuf asked. "She's been dating Shane Peter's for a while now."

"A woman like her would not tell a person she doesn't know as well a dark secret." Said Ariadne. "I don't even think that in a dream she would tell Eames anything if he was disguised as Shane." Suddenly, a pain chiseled through one of her teeth and she gripped her jaw.

"And I'll guess I'll go for Ivory." Said Eames. "Has Jayne been trained to fight off extractors? It would be nice to know that in advance darling." The Brit smirked at Arthurs mistake with the previous mission.

"No." said Arthur. "She doesn't even know what an extraction is. Ariadne, you said you would build a concert hall?"

"Yeah, I mean she usually at concerts performing so she wouldn't suspect anything." Ariadne felt extreme pain in her mouth and didn't know what was causing it. It had to be a cavity.

"And where do you plan on putting the vault?"

"I was thinking the dressing room, behind the mirror."

"Brilliant." Eames complemented. "No wonder he chose you."

"I have a question." Ariadne started. "This might sound a little interesting or weird, but Jayne is a singer so music is constantly playing in her mind. Is there a chance that the projections could break into song?"

Everyone looked over at Arthur.

"Good question." He said. "I love how you think Ariadne. I really don't know what to say."

"I think they would." Said Eames. "I just hope they don't do _High School Musical_."

"Don't get me started on _High School Musical_!" Ariadne laughed. "They couldn't have come up with a more creative title!"

"What else do you know about Jayne personality wise?" Yusuf asked. "Any outrageous backstage demands?"

"No." said Arthur. "She doesn't ask for anything people can't get her. All she wants is vanilla ice cream with nothing on it. No gold spoon or bowl."

"She's more down-to-earth than most singers." Said Ariadne. "Whenever I see her in a magazine, she's doing something for a cause."

"You think she'll be funny on _SNL_?" Eames asked.

"Better than her rival for sure." Ariadne replied.

"What's exactly going on between her and Miley Cyrus?" Yusuf asked.

"Jayne criticized Miley and she overreacted." Said Arthur. "They can't stand each other."

"Well Jayne didn't smoke a bong." Ariadne replied. "Legal or not, it's still a bad example. And she didn't take R-rated pictures of herself either. Miley was caught in a picture pulling her eyelids to look Asian. I'm serious."

"Saito would not like that." Said Yusuf. "So, when's _SNL_?"

"I thought it was next week, it was last week. We can watch it on Hulu." Said Ariadne. She pulled open her laptop and went to Hulu. "Yeah, it's here already." She pushed the computer forward and put it on full screen.

They skipped the opening because it was another political satire sketch they didn't need to see.

"_Musical guest and host; Jayne Alvers!" The screen went to the main set of Saturday Night Live with the band playing on stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, Jayne Alvers!" she stepped through the door. She was in white jeggings with leopard spots, black pumps, a biker jacket and a white Lance Alvers concert t-shirt. There was a long applause as she waited for everyone to calm down._

"_Alright! Can we get some 'calm down' lights in here?" she started. "I'm Jayne Alvers and this is my first time hosting Saturday Night Live! I am so excited to be back home in New York. My move __Beastly__ came out yesterday." More applause roared in the room. "And right now I'm working in New Orleans on a new film. My dad is legendary musician Lance Alvers." She zipped open her jacket to show off her T-shirt. "And my mom is a Bayville Siren, which if you don't know, it's her derby team. That makes me a rock-n-roller."_

Arthur chuckled a little. "That was pretty good."

"_After I film my current movie, I'm coming back up here to be in my first Broadway play!" More applause corrupted the room. "I'm not going to tell you what the musical is about because that would ruin the whole thing. It's not new, however, it was never performed in the US." Jayne went on with her monologue, making the team laugh at occasion. "We have a kick-ass show for you tonight. Miley Cyrus is not here so stick around, we'll be back!"_

"She's going to do a Miley Cyrus show skit." Said Ariadne. The fake TV commercial came up. After that was the first skit. Arthur had to brace himself after seeing the 'Resistration for Porno Actors' logo come up. _Jayne worked at the front desk of a porn star registration office and she was signing up men to be porn actors. They heard names like 'Penis de Milo', 'Sadong Hussein' (which even made Yusuf laugh), 'Forrest Hump' and a variety of Star Wars themed names. Throughout the skit, Arthur was trying not to listen. Especially when Fred Arimsen came in as an Asian man and said his name was 'Hung Low'. Jayne assumed that was his porn name, but then he said, 'Sp where do I pick up my drivers lisence?'_

As Ariadne predicted, a Miley Cyrus Show sketch came on next. Jayne appeared in the sketch as herself and she argued with Vanessa Bayer, Miley's impersonator and won.

_In another skit, Jayne and Kristen Wiig played roller girls in an arena locker room. They were superstitious and performed all these dances that they believed would break all their bad luck. In the skit, a black cat crossed their paths, a towel fell to the floor and Kristen broke a mirror. They did this all on skates._

"Well she doesn't make a bad host." Said Eames. "Pretty funny."

"I don't understand why you people laugh at that." Said Arthur. "It looks so silly."

"There have been worst hosts." Said Ariadne. "For example; Miley Cyrus."

"Was it that bad?" Yusuf asked.

"My sister was taken to the emergency room the same time that episode first aired." Ariadne explained. "I'm not kidding."

"So we can see right now from her monologue that she seems like a down-to-earth person." Said Arthur. "With a dirty sense of humor. And when she's performing, her character is very aggressive, like she's fighting her audience."

"Alright." Ariadne closed the laptop. "I know what I want to do." She picked up her phone and called the local dentist.


	5. Eames Facebook Stalks Ariadne

"You have a Facebook Ari?" Eames asked looking around the Internet on his laptop.

"Maybe." Ariadne looked away from he drawing over to Eames. He was on Facebook.

"Well I'm gonna check and see if your so innocent after all."

"You don't know my last name."

"Found it. Your last name is Cavandar?"

Ariadne jumped out of her chair. "Eames that is not funny, please don't look!"

"What do you have to hide?" Eames teased. "Cute profile picture by the way. Is the redhead the friend you mentioned before?" She looked over at her picture on the screen. It was a shot of her and Jules dressed up and posing in a nightclub. "Is she seeing anyone?"

"Eames, please stop!" She reached over for the off button but Eames held her back.

"You have some videos."

"What are you doing on Facebook anyway?"

"What kind of videos do you have?" he clicked on a screenshot of Ariadne and three other girls sitting at a picnic table with a 20 Questions game. Eames clicked on it. The video was five minutes of continuous laughs.

"_Ok, ok." The redhead looked at the game. "Can you send it in the mail?"_

_A short brunette who wasn't Ariadne almost fell off her seat cackling._

"_Possibly." Ariadne replied with a chuckle. "I just hope I don't get one."_

"_Does it come in all colors?"_

"_I don't know." Said another brunette with shorter hair. _

"_I'm just gonna say yes." Said the red head, pushing the button. Her eyes widened and her head fell on the table laughing._

"_Poor Sean looks traumatized!" The short-haired brunette giggled._

"_Is it edible?" The redhead spilled out. "Ew!" _

_The long haired brunette got off the table and ran to the bathroom._

"_Wouldn't it be ironic if it guessed it right and said a penis?" Ariadne asked._

"Ariadne." Eames shook his head.

"That was five years ago." She defended.

"Happy Birthday Cavandar." Eames read aloud. "What's this?"

"That's just one picture of me photo shopped into a bunch of backgrounds." She grumbled. "It's bad."

The start of the video read, "Happy Birthday Ariadne Cavandar."

"_Happy birthday Cavandar. You're another year older so let's take a look back at the past year. Here you are drinking beer at a Paris Rollergirls bout." The picture on the screen was of Ariadne standing up and drinking a beer from a clear plastic cup. That picture was cut to only show her pose in the next shot. "And there you are at the Kentucky Derby with the Queen, drinking horse piss." The shot changed to a ballroom background. "And here you are at the governor's ball, in jeans, a t-shirt and oh yes, drinking Budweiser. Cavandar, your a fucking beast!"_

Eames stated laughing after the last sentence.

"_And there was that one time you had a beer in the ball pit at Chuck E Cheese around all those four year olds. And that other time you went to an Edith Piaf concert and grounded against her while you were drinking beer. And you didn't buy me a T-shirt with the money I gave you! Big mistake Cavandar! I want my CD back by the way, love Girard."_

Eames almost fell off his chair in laughter. For moments he couldn't breathe.

"Wait, this video was posted a year ago next week. Next week's your birthday?"

"That's not important. Now get off my Facebook."

"You going to tell Arthur on me?"

"I hope I don't have to."

Arthur was sitting in the corner, ignoring the argument. Ariadne went back to her desk and opened up her own laptop.

**You do not have permission to view this page.**

"Did you really just block me, Darling?" Eames asked.

"Uh-huh." Ariadne went back to her drawing. "And don't add me as a friend or I'll say no. Try working."

So far, Ariadne had the front room of the concert hall complete. There was plenty of space for concertgoers to stand around, ten ticket booths and Jayne Alvers concert posters everywhere.

She was currently working on the second level where the projections could buy food and T-shirts. Ariadne had to look up Jayne Alvers to see what her concert tour theme was like. Jayne would never suspect a thing if she used the original theme.

The dressing room where the vault would be looked like the inside of a Hot Topic store. The walls were covered in red bricks with a guitar neon sign. The vanity mirror holding the vault wasn't framed with light bulbs like the one's backstage at beauty pageants but instead it had a neon border. Ariadne thought it looked cool and someone like Jayne would take a liking to it.

At that moment, she ran out of ideas. Ariadne flipped back several pages to show a page she intended to keep secret. It wasn't a sketch of a maze, or a floor plan, or a pencil drawing of a building.

The drawing in front of her eyes was a colored portrait of Arthur. She couldn't help herself one day when she had nothing useful to do. Ariadne could remember every feature on a face. It included his brown squinted eyes with that perfect hair and his flawless oval-shaped face.

It wasn't like her to go crazy over some guy. The last time she ever dated a guy was three years ago, and the guy broke up with her because she "Wasn't romantic enough."

She supposed these thoughts started after they touched for the first time. She left the warehouse thinking nothing of it, but overnight his face wouldn't leave her mind. When they kissed in the hotel lobby, that face drove her insane. Cupid stabbed her in many places and it hurt as much as it felt like magic.

She heard someone coming and closed the page to return to the concert hall sketches. Ariadne was lucky that person didn't see.

"How are those mazes coming?" His voice made her hear go crazy. For a moment she didn't know what to say.

"They're coming." She said. "I should be finished by tomorrow."

"Excellent. Duke's coming in two days."

"Great." _Go away!_

Ariadne wondered if the PASIV device could be used to erase memories. That would have been nice right around then.


	6. Instant Messaging

Jayne had a YouTube channel that she used to submit music videos, sing other peoples songs and talk about celebrity life. Arthur found himself sitting at his laptop with the headphones plugged in listening to Jayne Alvers criticize Miley Cyrus's attempt at hosting _Saturday Night Live_.

"_Hey guys, its Trader Jayne here. As you know, last week I hosted __Saturday Night Live__. I thought it would fun to watch Miley Cyrus's sad attempt at hosting. I missed the episode on live TV because I fainted before it went on air and my dad ended up calling 911. True story."_

Arthur didn't understand Hollywood catfights, nor did he want to. But the beef between Jayne and Miley had everyone watching.

"_So I watched it. It starts out with a skit called, 'Duh, Winning' where Charlie Sheen has a talk show. Bill Hader plays Charlie and let me tell you, he is so funny. Miley comes on as Lindsey Lohan with a blonde wig and big bag. What's ironic is that Miley is doomed to become a shadow of Lohan. I once respected Lohan but I lost faith in her now. She's always get's in trouble."_

The scratching of Ariadne's pencil echoed through the giant room. Eames raised his eyebrows in curiosity. What was she doing? He walked over to her work station.

"You haven't said a word since you came here darling." He cooed.

"I'm working." She told him firmly, not even nudging her eyes off the paper.

"Working awfully fast." He observed. "How can you draw that quickly and still make it look nice?"

"Eames, I'm trying to get my work done here. I have to make a concert hall, ok? So get a coffee or something."

"Bloody hell, what has your panties in a bunch?"

Ariadne dropped her pencil on the desk.

"If you must know, I have to leave early today to get a cavity removed." She didn't sound too thrilled. Eames sensed some anxiety in her voice. "So now you know. Please let me finish this assignment now."

Eames returned the other side of the room. His computer was on Ivory Maximoff's channel looking at a video called, "Who's Really Talented In Hollywood?" Never had Eames before seen a girl with white hair, but her father was Pietro Maximoff who was famous for his white hair. Eames assumed it was bleached but Ivory often insisted that her white locks were real.

"_Hey chicks and dudes."_ She began. _"A lot of people ask me what I think of other celebrities that I've met. Finally, I'm going to be honest. I'm going to tell you exactly how I feel about these actresses and singers. I say actresses because were only talking about girls here. Here we go; by popular demand, I'll talk about Miley Cyrus. For one, she disrespected Jayne Alvers who is my bitch, not hers, after being criticized. Miley cannot sing and she's strait up a hoe. Who smokes a bong and then says, 'It was legal'? Isn't she aware that little six year olds wear her face on their shoes? Once a Disney Channel star, you will always be viewed as a Disney starlet. Hilary Duff is married now but whenever I see her, I still think of Lizze McGuire." _

Eames had no idea who Lizzie McGuire was but he let that slide. If he was going to forge into this pageant queen, he had to be very critical in front of Jayne and agree with everything she say's.

"_So Miley sings in her monologue that she's not perfect. It seems as if she doesn't get it. We don't want you to be perfect Miley. We want you to set a good example. Annie Lebowitz may have failed to get you naked but you sure weren't afraid to take some risqué photos. In fact, let's see a couple." Jayne was not afraid to put repulsive pictures in her videos if she had to._

Arthur wanted to close his eyes in respect as a picture of Miley and another girl popped up. What was disgusting was that they were sharing candy with their mouths. Arthur wanted to exit the channel.

"_Nasty!"_ Jayne exclaimed. _"What the fuck is that anyway, one of those Jolly Ranchers?"_

Arthur knew clearly that Jayne hated Mileys guts. He didn't need to look into that anymore. He had to focus on the more important points, like Jayne's relationship with her parents.

Lance Alvers and Kitty Pryde met in high school. Their relationship started out very rocky. Lance would always try to make a move on Kitty and she would always reject him. Eventually, she gave in and agreed to go out with him once.

And she had the best time.

Their romance strung like the tale of _Romeo and Juliet_. But they had different friends, different thoughts and sometimes fought over them but Lance loved Kitty too much to stay mad at her.

Kitty's parents did not approve of the relationship. They were especially angry after she got pregnant with Jayne. When Jayne was born, there were more fights. The couple was two strong to tear in half though, especially with Jayne's surprising strength. No matter what happened, Lance went to Kitty's bouts and Kitty went to his concerts.

That's what Arthur knew from headlines. It was time to throw out the magazines and do some hacking. There was little effort done as Arthur found himself in a three-way online chat room.

Aftershocker: When are you guys flying in?

He assumed that was Jayne and waited for a reply.

Cheetah Grrrrrl: I have a flight at noon tomorrow.

Commander Ember: I have my costume, it's so cute!

Aftershocker: You did get a charmander costume, right?

Commander Ember: Yep. You get bulbasaur?

Aftershocket: Yeah, it's a cute dress.

Cheetah Grrrrrl: My dress is really long…

Afterschocker: Dina wants to join you guys… Let's be nice to her for this one time.

Cheetah Grrrrrl: You gonna dress her up as Pikachu?

Aftershocker: Well we're all going as pokemon, so yeah.

Arthur exited out and browsed past chats. He found one Jayne sent to Ivory.

Aftershocker: I got the tattoo finally. It's really cool.

Cheetah Grrrrrl: The Earth tattoo?

Aftershocker: Yep.

Earth tattoo? Arthur went on Google and entered 'Jayne Alvers tattoo'. The results showed pictures of Jayne on the beach with a big black tattoo on her lower back that said, "Earth." Arthur looked at the font of the ink.

When he flipped the tattoo upside down, it looked exactly the same.

Just like the Illuminati symbol.

"This is far by the most interesting mark I've researched." Said Arthur.

"What did you see on her Facebook?" Ariadne asked, her back still to him.

"A couple of Miley Cyrus videos, thousands of pictures and many instant messaging conversations. And a tattoo."

"What tattoo?" Eames walked over to the laptop. "She has a tramp stamp?"

"It appears so." Said Arthur. "And she had it done a few days ago."

Ariadne's phone beeped and she got off the desk to grab her jacket.

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked.

"The dentist." Ariadne huffed. "I have to get a filling."

"Would you like company darling?" Eames offered. Ariadne shrugged.

"I guess the company would be nice." She said as she put on her jacket. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye." Said Yusuf.

"Eames, when she's done, take her home and come back here." Said Arthur.

"Yes mum." Said Eames throwing on his coat. "Let's go darling."


	7. Suspense Movies and Matchmaking

Humiliation. That's all Ariadne felt after breaking through the drugs the dentist used. She was higher than a druggie on a cocaine spree when she told Eames something she would never think to say to him.

He told her on the ride home that she spilled to him, "He's sexy." about Arthur. "I want to marry him, do him hard and have his classy babies." She couldn't think of a good threat on the spot for if he did open his mouth.

While she liked Eames like as the 'older brother' type of man, she didn't fully trust him. Now he carried one of her deepest secrets like it was a canister of antimatter. If a little bit was exposed, her whole life would go down like a city. And to her, Eames was clumsy with words.

Ariadne sighed as she sat on the couch of her small apartment. Maybe a few movies would get her mind off it. Suspense movies in that case.

Since the inception, Ariadne barely touched the giant salary she earned. She wasn't a big spender but at the same time wasn't very frugal. Ariadne used a very small sum to get a membership to Netflix. When she wasn't studying, she liked a good suspense movie.

The thought of Jayne Alvers came up. She was not just a singer, but also an actress. Ariadne never saw one of her movies, mainly because of one film Jayne was in that she was too sensitive about to see. Even after Jayne won an Oscar for that movie, it was still too sad to sit through. But if she won an Oscar at the age of fourteen, then she must have performed well in other flicks.

Ariadne browsed through Jayne Alvers movies and saw a few titles that looked interesting. There was a movie poster with Jayne's terrified face showing a boy through her eyes. The title _Stolidusphobia_ immediately caught her attention. She never heard of the phobia, maybe because it was rare, but she knew that the word 'Stolidus' was Latin for dim-witted.

She started watching the movie and it looked fairly interesting. Jayne played a high school honor student who's asked to tutor a freshman named Brian who's mentally ill. Her character was nice to him in the beginning, helping him do his biology homework. Then things turned ugly.

_"Your really pretty Maddie." _Said Brian to Jaynes character.

_"Thanks. Anyway, back to Darwin…"_

_ "Do you have a boyfriend?"_

_ Maddie looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "No."_

_ "Can I be your boyfriend? I think your pretty."_

_ The tutor froze in her place. "Brian, I really don't want to hurt you. But no, I enjoy being single."_

_ "Why? Your so pretty…" Brians hand crawled over to hers. Maddie slapped it without thinking._

_ "This is important right now." She said sternly. "I know evolution is tricky but you need to do well on this test." Brian started crying. "Oh, for the love of Jesus."_

_ "You hate me!" he sobbed._

_ "No Brian, I don't hate you."_

_ "You like some other guy!"_

_ "Brian, listen to me! You're freaking out over nothing. I don't hate you for having a crush on me."_

_ "Is it because I'm special?"_

_ "No."_

_ Brian's mother came through the door with two bags of groceries. Maddie stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder._

_ "What's going on?" she asked._

_ "Brian's just a little upset." Said Maddie. "Listen, I can't do this anymore. Keep your money." Maddie didn't explain further but instead left his house._

The movie progressed to a scene where Brian followed Maddie home and broke into her house to see her.

_"How old were you in that picture?" he asked right as she saw him._

_ "How did you get in here?"_

_ "The back door was loose."_

_ Maddie's dog growled at him as she took out her cell phone. _

_ "Look, Mr. Tilly told you very clearly to stay away from me. You realize what I have to do?"_

_ "What?"_

_ Maddie dialed 911. "Yes, there's a guy from my high school who broke into my house but won't leave. No, he's not armed. He has a mental challenge but I'm afraid he can still hurt me."_

_ "I'll send police."_

_ "Thank you!"_

Ariadne was hooked on the movie. She liked the scene where Jayne's character argued with her parents about getting a restraining order. The court scene had her addicted.

_ "When police searched this boys room, they found scrapbooks filled with pictures of this young lady. He is obsessed with her." Maddie's lawyer explained. "Therefore Your Honor, I believe it is right to activate a restraining order."_

_ "Do you understand what he's saying?" the judge asked Brian._

_ "They found my pictures… my books."_

_ Maddie looked away in humiliation. _

_ "Can I just say something Your Honor?" she asked. _

_ "Yes Madeline."_

_ "Even though this boy is mentally challenged, he's still capable of committing the same crimes as normal boys, including sex crimes. He almost raped me!"_

_ "I understand." Said the judge. _

_ "He has severe disabilities." Brians lawyer cut in. "He's doesn't know he's done anything wrong."_

_ "Which is why he should know." Maddie's lawyer snapped back._

_ "I hereby confirm the requested restraining order." The judge banged his mallet on the desk. "Brian Marsh, you are not allowed to come five-hundred feet of Ms. Garrison."_

_ "Never?"_

_ "Never." Said the judge. "Because of your disability, I'll let you off the hook this one time. But if you try to touch or contact Miss Garrison in anyway, then you're going to jail."_

Jayne's acting was convincing in the movie. It sent chills through Ariadne's spine. She never knew what it was like to be stalked by someone. After seeing the film, she could capture a feel of how Jayne's character was struggling to remain sane.

Eames walked through the warehouse doors whistling like an innocent child. Over the period he was absent, Arthur and Yusuf haven't left their workstations. He looked over at Ariadnes empty desk.

Arthur and Yusuf didn't say anything as Eames waited for one of them, preferably Arthur, to ask about what happened. Neither of them did.

"Well, since our princess went home, how about us knights go get some drinks?" he started. Arthur responded with the sound of his fingers tapping the keyboard.

"Duke's coming tomorrow." he said. "I'm not going to wake up tomorrow morning not knowing what happened the night before."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're no fun?" he questioned.

"Why do you want us to go to a bar with you?" Yusuf asked.

"I was thinking we could do some chatting and have a few laughs, that's all." Eames insisted. "Like we did in school with our bros."

"All there was to do in Egypt was see movies." said Yusuf.

"Then you need to experience what it's like!" Eames explained. "You two have been working all day. I'll buy you a few drinks."

"Alright, what do you want?" Arthur demanded suspiciously.

"Nothing darling." Eames chimed. "Just some male bonding now that the princess is home doing God-knows-what. I know, look up her Facebook page!"

"She blocked you for a reason." Arthur pointed out. "I'm not hacking into her profile just to see what's on there."

"She won't know. Besides," Eames stepped over to him. "I know you want too."

Arthur shook his head. "I respect her too much."

"Alright I see... your girlfriend must be lucky." He said the world 'girlfriend' louder than the other words in the sentence.

"I'm single." said Arthur. "Don't make anything out of it."

"Your single, huh darling? I can see why. Your too buried in your work."

"Eames, are you trying to set up Arthur and Ariadne?" Yusuf asked picking up his thoughts.

"No!" Eames laughed. "Not at all!"

"Don't even try it Eames." Arthur warned. "She's not interested in me and I'm not interested in her. End of story."

"Lie about it all you want, Darling." Eames told him. "Remember, I saw everything."


	8. Monsieur Gorgon

Ariadne desperately wanted to watch the entire second season of _Teen Titans_ for one reason; Jayne went blonde in that series to play a frienemy of the titans. She didn't want to admit it, but she was slowly becoming a fan.

She didn't want to look tired when she met Duke. As she brushed her teeth, she wondered what he looked like. At first she expected a really tall man in sunglasses and a trench coat. Then she envisioned someone as civilized as Arthur but with a funny moustache. What if he was one of those lazy smokers or heavy drinkers?

Drifting off to sleep, Ariadne expected a dreamless slumber.

"Come on out Dina." Jayne looked at the changing room door at Halloween USA. Her army consisting of Ivory and Lucy, an orange haired Australian accented model waited with her.

"Ma tits keep popping aout!" Dina complained.

"That's the whole point." Said Ivory.

"Seriously Dina, open this door or I'll shake it open."

"Promise ya'll won't laugh?"

"We swear." Said Lucy holding her hand up. The door opened and Dina stepped out in her Pikachu costume. It was a yellow tube dress with the black stripes on the sides that had the thunderbolt tail attached to it. On her head was a pair of Pikachu ears as tall as Playboy bunny ears.

"You look hot." Said Ivory. "I like it a lot."

"It looks very sexy." Lucy complemented. "Why don't you like it?"

"We'll Ah just don't know that Ah should be wearing this out in public." Dina tried to crane her neck backwards to view the back.

"Your ass is not showing." Said Jayne crossing her arms. "I checked."

"It looks really cute." Lucy said again. "I mean, do you want that other Pikachu costume? I mean the hot bodysuit with the plastic mask."

"Well it's haut in New Orleans year 'round." Said Dina. "Ya'll are right. Ah'll take it."

"I'll pay." Said Jayne. "After all, that costume is one of four in a set."

"We will surely turn heads." Said Ivory as Dina went back into the changing room.

"And maybe Dina will get more fans." Said Lucy.

"Yeah, perverted douchbags that'll want to get her pants." Jayne muttered. At the checkout, Jayne added a can of yellow hair spray to the purchase.

Little did Jayne know about the little Halloween surprise coming.

Ariadne woke up and got dressed. She brushed her teeth twice as long. As she flossed, she could not believe what she had told Eames. _If he opens his mouth at all today, I'm going to watch him like a predator. I can't risk my secret being exposed, especially since Arthur is such a workaholic. Why would he even ask me to help? Aren't there other architects, preferably male out there who are as good as I am?_ Ariadne inspected her face for any flaws and checked her teeth as well as she could. _I just hope this Duke person isn't a big asshole._

As usual, before going anywhere, she stopped at the Parisian Café for her daily dose of caffeine on-the-go. Ariadne waited in a short line. When she got closer to the counter, she noticed that everyone was buying a magazine along with his or her coffee. Jayne Alvers was on the cover. Ariadne usually hated gossip magazines but the cover was too interesting to keep her eyes off.

**Le Ventilateur de Cyrus de Miley Envoie Menaces A Jayne Alvers! **

**Un bascule-teen indifférent est regardé lourdement après qu'elle obtient les menaces de mort d'un ventilateur fâché. **

_Miley Cyrus Fan Sends Threats To Jayne Alvers!_

_An unmoved rocker-teen is watched heavily after she gets death threats from an angry fan. _

In the picture, Jayne was walking around a town. The only thing different was that there were two bodyguards behind her. Arthur probably knew but just in case, she snatched a copy.

Eames was absent when Duke arrived. Arthur was at the door in a dash after hearing it knock, like the butler of a huge house. Yusuf stopped working with his chemicals and watched as a tall man in a dark blue suit stepped in.

He was groomed like the president with his pure-white shirt and silk blue tie. Over his eyes was a pair of Armani sunglasses.

"I assume your Arthur." He greeted.

"Your correct. Why don't you come in?"

"Thank you." Duke advanced from the outdoor world to the blankness of the spacious warehouse. He slipped off his sunglasses to reveal a pair of hazel green eyes.

"Ariadne's not here yet and Eames… well I never know where he is."

Duke snickered. "He probably thinks he's too good to try."

"He does." Said Yusuf. "I'm Yusuf, the chemist."

"A pleasure to meet someone who's skilled at the science." Duke shook Yusuf's hand. "I never understood chemistry."

The extractor looked down when he heard a purr. Bast was sitting between him and Yusuf's feet, looking up at the new member.

"My cat." Yusuf explained. Duke sneezed and covered his nose. Taking out a tissue from his pocket, he emptied out his nose.

"Forgive me. Allergies." Duke laughed. "I'll remember to take my pills again."

"I assume you're allergic to cats." Said Arthur. "I'm sorry, should I take Bast somewhere else?"

"No, no, no." Duke insisted. "I just sneeze and start to have dry itchy eyes. People with peanut allergies stop breathing."

"Normally I'd leave her at home but last time I was away for too long." Said Yusuf. "I'll try to keep her busy." Yusuf picked up Bast and walked back to his worktable.

"As you know, our mark is Jayne Alvers." Arthur began. "The client Mr. Granger thinks she's associated with the Cajun Illuminati that he was once a part of."

"Normally a five-star celebrity would be watched by someone at all times." Said Duke. "How could no one catch this?"

"People who know what Illuminati is don't believe in it. Most people think Dan Brown made them up when he wrote _Angels and Demons_. But I hacked into Jaynes Facebook page and found a conversation she made with a friend about a tattoo." Arthur opened up a page on his computer from the book's website. "She said she had this tattooed to her lower back."

"The element Earth." Duke observed. "You think she might be one of four powerful people involved with Cajun terrorists?"

"That's a possibility." Said Arthur. "There's only one way to know for sure."

"So what has your architect drawn out?" Duke asked.

"Well Ariadne's not here and she has the sketches but she said she was making a concert hall."

"Did she tell you where the safe would be?"

"Behind the mirror in Jayne's dressing room."

"Hm… Interesting." Duke tapped his index and middle finger on the desk. "And what is it like to a woman on the team? I mean, you barely see women in this business."

"Ariadne is actually one of the best architects I've worked with. Well, we only did one job in the past but she designed a whole city and a hotel and I was impressed. I didn't go down to the third level but I heard most of it was snow."

"Is she as good as Mr. Cobb?"

Arthur thought for a while. While Ariadne built busy cites flooded with cars, Cobb would add a train to shoot out from the middle of nowhere. "No. She's better. Now let me ask you something."

"Absolutely." Said Duke.

"Why do they call you Gorgon? That's a Greek monster."

"Well… it's because I wear sunglasses most of the time. My eyes are very sensitive and sometimes I have to wear them as much as Scott Summers has too. And if you looked a gorgon in the eyes… well you know what happens. Unless you or they wear sunglasses."

"Hello darlings!" Duke turned his head to see Eames coming in. "You must be Duke."

"And you must be Mr. Eames." Duke replied.

"Have you seen Ariadne?" Arthur asked.

"I'm right here." Eames was holding the door as Ariadne walked in with her bag, sketchbook and coffee.

"So how was the dentist?" Arthur asked. Ariadne glared at Eames to keep his lips sealed.

"It was fine… oh how rude of me!" she stepped over to Duke. "I'm Ariadne, the architect."

Duke stood up as she came to shake his hand. "It will be a pleasure to work with you." He surprised her when instead of shaking her hand, he kissed it. The twenty-three year old hid the fact that she was blushing.

"Speaking of dentist." Eames blurted out. "Ariadne—"

"Shut up!" she snapped. "You said you would be quiet about it!" Yusuf looked over as if he was hearing some juicy gossip. "I just said some dumb stuff while I was on laughing gas." She explained to the other men. "So have any of you gentlemen heard the new Jayne Alvers rumor?"

"What rumor?" Arthur asked. Ariadne tossed him the magazine.

"I'm pretty sure it's to get people to read it." She theorized. "But if it's true, we're gonna need to find a different way to get to her."


	9. Surprise Performances

"It says here she's being heavily guarded." Arthur flipped through the pages. "They really think someone's going to kill her."

"Hey, Rebecca Black got threats too but she's still here." Ariadne pointed out.

"Who's Rebecca Black?" Eames asked.

"You don't want to know." Ariadne told him. "Trust me."

"Getting around the guards won't be a problem." Arthur put the paper book down. "Mr. Granger has invited her to his place after the Halloween party. He's going to offer her a drink, she's gonna fall asleep, and just like Fischer, she won't know a thing."

"Ah, excellent." Said Duke. "So do any questions about this mission?"

All the men in the room looked at Ariadne, the member on the team who had the reputation for asking questions non-stop. "Ariadne asked me an interesting question a few days ago actually." Said Arthur.

"Yeah," Ariadne jumped in his place. "I was wondering, since Jayne's an entertainer, would the projections break into song and dance out of nowhere?"

"Were you thinking of a particular musical?" Duke asked. Ariadne shrugged.

"Like _Jam_ or _Grease_." Ariadne particularized.

"What's _Jam_?" Yusuf asked.

"Oh, it's a new one. It's a musical about roller derby. I have the soundtrack."

Duke looked like he was in deep thought. "That is an excellent question. We'll have to see for ourselves, won't we? Now Ariadne, is that maze done?"

"Yes. Care to look?"

"Please." Duke stood up from his desk chair, bringing the PASIV with them to the chairs. "I can't wait to see what you have in store."

Eames looked at the two in the distance. He noticed Duke was being a real gentlemen, inserting the needle for her. Ariadne was smiling as she leaned back.

"You think she likes him?" he asked the Chemist.

"Well he's nice." Said Yusuf.

"Don't go jumping to any conclusions." Arthur advised. "And mind your own business."

* * *

"So here we are." Ariadne and Duke stood by the entrance of the concert hall. "There's the ticket booths, the ticket station where the guards will stand, and everything else is pretty much upstairs."

"I like the concert banner you put there." Said Duke. It was a black banner with letter's that flashed 'Jayne Alvers Kickass Tour!'

"That'll keep some projections bewildered." The place was empty with few projections being either janitors or tech people. Ariadne and Duke walked up the stairs. "So basically this room is shaped like a doughnut, the actual concert hall in the center. Now here is where they can buy their T-shirts, posters, sweet nuts, beer…"

Duke looked at the booths and then back over at Ariadne.

"You think you can get me backstage?"

"I built this place." She pointed out. "Now, there are elevators hidden behind the walls that separate this giant room from the hall. Those can get us backstage." As they walked over towards the grey walls, a portion of them opened like hidden doors. Ariadne and Duke stepped inside and Ariadne hit the 'B' button.

"Ever been to a rock concert before?" Duke asked. Ariadne nodded.

"I saw Bon Jovi."

"Do you listen to Lance or Jayne Alvers?"

"Lance… I haven't listened to his work in a while and Jayne… I'm sort of becoming a fan. I have all her movies on my Netflix cue list."

The elevator hit the bottom floor and the doors opened to a wide hallway.

"The elevators are programmed to take the projections to the wrong location if they try to chase us." Said Ariadne. "They won't have much luck with the stairwells either. Its all booby trapped." They passed by the power room, the dancer's dressing rooms and stopped at the door with the gold star. "And here is Jayne's little base."

They walked into a room with red brick walls, neon signs and groovy furniture. "This reminds me of the day."

"Oh yeah? Then you better remember to bring your totem."

"So I was told the vault is behind the mirror."

Ariadne went over and pulled the glass wall up like a window on a hot day.  
This is a word vault. The combination is a five-letter word."

"So I have to find that word, come in here while she's singing, and take the information."

"Exactly." She said. "And it's only one level. I mean, no extraction is easy but try doing an inception." Ariadne chuckled. "Talk about a nightmare."

"Sound like it." Said Duke. "So let's see the stage."

"Gladly." The two went up one level in the elevator to the floor seats of the hall. As they got closer to the circular stage, Duke noticed someone rehearsing. The projection was wearing a tuxedo and a fedora. He stood by the microphone dancing like Frank Sinatra.

But the song was a new one. It was a Bruno Mars song.

"How did this happen?" Ariadne asked. "There's not supposed to be anyone else here."

They approached the stage to investigate. The projection was singing about an amazing, beautiful girl who was perfect in his eyes. For moments, Ariadne was unsure of who the dreamer was.

"I think this answers your question." Said Duke.

"There must be a mistake. I can't sing. Are you sure I'm the dreamer?"

"Pretty sure." Duke confirmed. "Do you have feelings for someone right now?"

"No." Ariadne looked closely at the dancing man. With a better eye, she saw that it wasn't a stranger projection. It was an Arthur projection. Duke crossed his arms.

"I'm not convinced."

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "I like Arthur, ok? That's all it is!"

"Well I'll believe that."

"You can't tell anybody! It's bad enough that Eames knows!"

"How does he know?"

"I was high at the dentist!" she explained. "It's humiliating, but I told him and I feel really stupid."

Duke looked at false Arthur then to Ariadne. "I respect you too much to tell anyone else."

"Thank you."

"Now, let's get out of here."

* * *

"I'm telling you, he likes her." Eames debated.

"They just met." Said Yusuf. "There's no way they're flirting."

"You don't know. They could be having sex down there."

"On the stage?" Yusuf sighed. "You are something."

* * *

A very stressed Jayne entered the Chateau Bourbon Hotel after shooting more scenes. Everyone in the lobby looked away as if her glare would turn them to stone. They all knew something she didn't.

Jayne entered the elevator and went up to the twelfth floor where her suite was.

"She's coming!" Lucy shouted from across the hall.

"Oh man…" Ivory panicked as the elevator opened. "I got a plan…"

Jayne walked through the hall ready to check the news online. For a while, she was first in line for the part of Annie in the upcoming movie, _Annie Get Your Gun_.

"Hey Jayne, help me pick out an outfit." Ivory stopped her, holding up two dresses.

"I don't care." Jayne sneered.

"But I have a date!"

"I don't give a fuck!" Jayne pushed Ivory aside to see Lucy in her way.

"You can't go in your room!" said Lucy.

"And why can't I?" Jayne growled impatiently.

"I… I just farted in there!" Lucy blocked the door with her arms.

"You don't have a fucking key." Jayne opened the door to her suite. Both girls freaked out as Jayne put her purse down and went to her laptop. They tackled her down to the floor, all three girls tumbling to the carpet.

"What the fuck is wrong with you bitches?" Jayne roared. She got up and sat down by her laptop and opened the screen.

"Don't look!" Ivory cried. "It's horrible!"

Jayne looked at the screen, her eyebrows knitted together. "This has to be a joke."


	10. Unusual Talents

**MILEY CYRUS TO PLAY ANNIE IN '**_**GET YOUR GUN'**_

"We know how much you wanted to be in a western." Said Ivory. Jayne's goal was to be in every genre of film. _Annie Get Your Gun_ would add the genres western and musical to her resume. Jayne scratched her neck.

"Well… I can't win everything, can I?" she said. "That'll keep her busy for a bit… besides, it's going to suck now. I bet that girl can't even figure out how to use a gun."

"It's possible." Said Lucy. "I mean, she is a Hillbilly."

"True." Jayne turned the computer off. "Besides, it doesn't matter. It would have been nice for the director to call me and tell me I didn't get the part, but I guess there's no etiquette in her. Besides, I have better news ladies."

Ivory's ivory face glowed. "You got the Broadway role?"

"Fuck yeah!" Jayne hooted. "I'm going to play the female lead in _Dance of the Vampire_. Did you know that 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' was originally written for that musical in the sixties? Bonnie Wright stole it."

"Well, I say this calls for a celebration." Lucy pointed out. "Who's up for Outback?"

Jayne chuckled at her Australian friend for suggesting an Australian restaurant. "Sure. But you're buying."

* * *

"So how'd it go?" Eames asked as Ariadne rose from the beach chair.

"Went fine." She responded quickly and went back to her work station.

"It's perfect." Said Duke. "She'll have to teach you the layout later."

"_She'll have to teach you the layout later."_ Those eight words echoed through Ariadnes ears and raced down to her heart. Arthur was gonna go down there eventually! What if that projection was still singing love songs on stage? What if Arthur saw him? How would Ariadne explain it?

"Well it's official." Said Arthur. "We're flying into New Orleans in a couple of days. That means Ariadne needs a fake ID."

"Why do I need a fake ID?" Ariadne asked grumpily.

"So if Cobol decides they want to chase after you, they'll have a harder time finding you." Said Yusuf.

"That's Arthurs fault." Said Eames. "He got the last architect killed."

"What?" Ariadne burst.

"Don't listen to him." Said Arthur, trying to soothe her. Ariadne didn't know how that man controlled his temper but he was good at it. "Nothing's going to happen to you because you'll be watched by one of us at all time's. And the client is merciful."

"What did they do to the other architect?" She asked hoarsely, sounding like she was near a panic attack.

"I don't know." Said Arthur honestly. "But it's not happening to you."

Ariadne sighed. "I know this job is dangerous… I've been to Limbo for God's sake so I don't know what I'm afraid of. And no, it's not because Halloween is in a few days… and Halloween was terrifying in my home town." Bast jumped onto her lap and curled into her chest.

Duke walked across the wide room over to her desk. He pulled up the chair next to hers like he was an expert on women. Ariadne looked at him as if expecting him to say something comforting as she caressed Basts head.

"Here's something that might help. If the client was someone merciless like the men at Cobol, he wouldn't have called you to be the architect, no matter how skilled you are. He would have gotton someone else instead of put you in more danger." He said. "You're not the only one."

"Am I the only woman?" she questioned. "Because most men consider that to be a big deal when really, it isn't."

"From what I know, yes." Duke pointed out. "And you're right; women aren't being taken as seriously, especially in this business. We have to be extremely careful."

"I learned from Mal's mistakes." She said. "And if I hear any sexist remarks while I'm here… let's just say you do not like me when I'm angry."

"I'll keep that in mind." Said Duke. "But I'm pretty sure everyone in this room knows better."

Ariadne nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I just had a small heart-attack."

"Look up here." He said. "You see what I'm doing?"

Ariadne observed what Duke was trying to do and saw he was moving his ears like a hippos. "Where did you learn to do that?" she asked giggling.

"Ah, I made you smile! I saw a smile!" he bragged.

"Well I didn't know a person could do that."

"It takes three years of practice at the fanciest university in France." He explained. "Very few people can do it. So you have any body talents?"

Ariadne chuckled. "Uh… This might sound gross because it is. I can put my fist in my mouth…"

"Look at him." Eames told Arthur. "He's totally hitting on her."

"Will you relax? They both know better."

"But she's giggling." Said Yusuf.

"Any of us can make her do that." Said Arthur.

"She's shoving her fist in her mouth." Eames nudged his head towards them. Arthur turned around disobeying his own conscious to look. Ariadne had all her fingers and knuckles past her teeth. The moment she saw he was watching, she pulled her fist out blushing.

"I should not have done that." She said. "Oh, how about this? Can you make the bones in your ears pop with your jaw?"

"Can a person do that?"

Ariadne closed her mouth and brought her jaw down as low as possible while keeping her lips sealed. Duke heard two little pops.

"You gotta teach me that." He said. "That look's like it takes real talent."

"Well, middle school was very boring."

"They look like they're bonding." Eames whispered. "Hey Ariadne! What do you want you fake name to be?" He had to go out and get her an ID anyway soon so it was a good excuse to break the conversation.

Ariadne's eyebrows rose. "Uh… Go with Olivia Darling or something innocent sounding like that."

"Got it!" Eames put his thumb up. Arthur didn't bother to look at him. Yusuf could see obvious messages on Eames face; he was going to do whatever it took to find out if Arthur returned any feelings. And get him with Ariadne. "Oh by the way, happy birthday Cavandar!"

"It's tomorrow!" She growled. "It's the twenty-seventh today."

"Tomorrows your birthday?" Duke asked. "How old are you gonna be? Nineteen, twenty?"

"Twenty-four." She corrected him, turning pink again. "And it's not a big deal. This is more important."

"I think she likes him." Said Yusuf to Eames. "Never heard her laugh so much."

Arthur sighed and continued to jot down notes with his Louis Vitton pen.


	11. The Next Stage of Human Evolution

It was the twenty-seventh of October. As Ariadne was walking to work, her birthday was not the subject on her mind. It was Halloween. More particularly, Halloween in her hometown.

Every Halloween, Parry Sound had a festival and parade. All Hallows Eve was taken very seriously there. It was so important to the town, that others used that to an advantage. A person was more likely to be stolen from, pranked or worse… murdered. That was the one night where the crime rate was the highest. One year, twelve people were murdered in the most horrific ways imaginable.

Ariadne remembered her babysitter was one of those people. She was too young to understand the whole concept of murder. Police told her that Emma, her babysitter, was dead; They didn't explain that she was murdered while stripping decorations from her house. Her boyfriend found her severed head on one of the stick ghosts.

Despite not seeing it for herself, Ariadne could clearly envision the scene of the crime. The sound of her boyfriend screaming, the blood coming from everywhere… Emma's eyes wide open, starring into her.

New Orleans was not Parry Sound. They had Mardi Gras with jazz music, festive beads, and voodoo magic. Parry Sound on Halloween offered the end of one's life with blood, guts, and candy put together.

She walked into the warehouse, now wondering how she was going to survive showing Arthur the maze. What if Projection Arthur came back and started singing Josh Groban Richard Marks? Would she rather see the look on Arthur's stiff face when her thoughts were blown or the actual murder scene of her babysitter?

'I'll go with the severed head.' She told herself.

* * *

"You guys can't be serious." Jayne looked at the sign on the building. "You brought me to a voodoo man?"

"You said you wanted to see one." said Ivory. "Don't tell me your chickening out."

"Hell no." Jayne sneered. "These people just want money and they give you random predictions based on an iPhone app."

"They didn't have iPhones when voodoo started." Lucy stated. "And I know nothing about voodoo."

"Well let's go in and see what this Cajun hippie has to say."

"Nothing like a combination of French and Redneck." Ivory joked.

Jayne stepped into a dark room encircled by purple curtains. The table in the center of the circular area was covered in gold cloth. There were many masks hanging from the ceiling.

"I know who you are." the man said. The cloaked figure turned around to show his face. He had super long eyebrows and a goofy looking beard, just like a karate master. Jayne took a seat across from him.

"Half the Earth knows who I am." she said. "If I wasn't famous, would you have known who I was?"

"I can't tell you how my magic works." he replied. "I never reveal any secrets."

"Alright then. I'm first going to ask you questions about myself that only my parents know." the singer challenged. "If you answer them correctly, I'll believe your predictions."

"Ask me anything." said the voodoo man, untouched by her strictness.

"Alright. So what am I going to be for Halloween? I'm singing at a big hotel party this year."

"Your going as a Pokemon. A Bulbasaur to be more precise. Your friend Ivory is going as Squirtle and Lucy is going as Charmander. You even got Dina to join in as Pikachu." he explained in such detail that Jayne dropped her next question.

"Alright, I suppose I can believe you." she said. The voodoo man brought out his deck of cards.

"Take any three." he set the pile down. Jayne took the first card, pulled out one from the middle and one from the bottom. "Now flip them over."

Jayne revealed the three cards she ended up choosing to think those cards appeared as they were on purpose. The first card said 'Success', the second 'Manifesting in Music', and the third 'Control'. The last one had her a little spooked.

"Success." he began. "You are and will continue to be successful in all your efforts. Nothing will fail."

"That sounds a little too good to be true." she told him. "Every great singer sings one flop."

"Your father sold that one song to Miley." the voodoo man said. "Whether you sang it or she did, that song would still be unsatisfying."

"Are you talking about that 'Can't Be Tamed' song?" Jayne questioned. "Because my dad wrote it to be horrible on purpose to expose Miley for the whore she is. It was never for me."

"You and your father are very cleaver." he praised. "Manifesting in Music, or manifesting in anything actually. When you love to do something, you only want to get better at it." he said. "Every time you sing a high note, you tell yourself you can sing higher."

Jayne nodded. "I agree, that's so true."

"And the last one… Control."

"What about it?"

"While you thrive on talent and success, you lack self-control. To be more precise, you struggle to stay calm when your angry…" The next thing he said was going to throw her off in shock and denial. "Your lack of self-control is the reason for all the tremors here."

Jayne knew exactly what he was talking about but didn't want him to know. He could tell someone to make money off of it.

"You think that's me?"

"I know it's you." he said. "I know about your little gift. Your just like your father. Your one of them."

"One of what?" she snapped.

"The next stage of human evolution."

At that moment, the room started to vibrate and the table shook like it was possessed. The dangling masks swung in all directions. Jayne took a couple of deep breaths and stood up. The shaking stopped as she threw him a fifty dollar bill.

"Here's your pay. Get a haircut." she picked up her tote bag and headed for the exit but turned around. "You do know what'll happen if you tell someone, right?"

"Your secret is mine to keep." he promised. "The last thing I want is to be crushed by a roof. And one more thing… look out. There are people like you and there are others… others that can do the unimaginable with great technology."

Jayne rolled her eyes and stepped out.

* * *

Ariadne opened up her laptop to check her e-mail on Yahoo. Before she clicked on her inbox, she noticed a piece of news that caught her eye.

**TREMORS STRIKE NEW ORLEANS**

"Arthur, come here." she requested. Arthur closed his laptop, straightened his tie and walked over to her desk. Bast jumped up and stood by the computer.

"What is it?"

"They're saying that New Orleans is having a lot of small earthquakes. No one is dead but they're so frequent that NWS is concerned."

Arthurs eyebrows rose. "What does this have to do with the assignment?"

"Well, they started the day Jayne Alvers arrived. When they all happened, she was in town."

"That's strange… Louisiana is not an earthquake state."

"Maybe the world is ending in a few months." she joked. "After all, it's 2012."

The sound of a plate landing on her desk made her and Arthur turn around. Duke just arrived and he was sweet enough to bring Ariadne a birthday treat. A tiny chocolate cake sat there with a candle already lit.

"Duke, you shouldn't have." she gushed. "Your so sweet." Ariadne blew out the candle.

"You deserve a treat for working so hard." he said.

"Well that was very generous of you." Duke placed down a fork for her. "I just ate but when I'm hungry, I'll know what I'm having." She and the new extractor exchanged smiles.

"Let's go over the maze, shall we?" Arthur asked, breaking the moment. "Eames, were going under."

Ariadne looked over Duke wide eyed as Arthur and Eames roamed over to the PASIV. "What do I do?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if his projection is still on stage tap dancing or something like that?" she panicked. "This is so embarrassing…"

"Don't think about it." he said. "Uh… think about a band or singer you really like instead."

"Great, I'll see if that works." Ariadne doubted that she would wake up with her heart in one piece.

Arthur, Ariande and Eames were fast asleep, exploring the concert hall as Duke and Yusuf were left alone.

"So… Eames has been saying things about you." Yusuf spilled. "Not mean things but he's making assumptions."

Duke chuckled. "Like what? That I'm flirting with Ariadne?"

"Exactly."

"I've heard that before. Whenever I'm around women, men think I'm trying to charm them because I'm so nice." Duke spelled out. "Ariadne is beautiful without a doubt. But she's not my type."

"And he's made another assumption." Yusuf chuckled as Bast rubbed herself against his ankles. "Your going to love this one;" the chemist took a deep breath to stop himself from cracking up. "He thinks that Arthur likes Ariadne and that he's jealous of you."

Duke burst into laughter. "Oh that Eames is a hilarious one!"

"I know. He's got quite an imagination."

Just then, the PASIV timer went out and the three dreamers rose. Duke looked to see if Ariadne was relieved or heartbroken to see she was fine. Arthur didn't look effected either.

"Flawless job as usual Ariadne." he complemented. "I'm impressed."

"Oh, you just reminded me of something." Eames reached into his pocket. "Ariadne, I got your fake ID and passport." he handed her the illegally processed items. "Happy birthday Cavandar."

Ariadne opened her passport to immediately see an error. "Eames, this says Mrs. And the last name is wrong."

"Well I had to get you a husband." Eames grinned. "You'll thank me later Darling."

"And who's fake last name is Kingsley?" she asked, demanding an answer. Arthurs fake name flashed through his brain.

"You made her my wife?" he asked. "You could have told me."

"You need to be more surprised." said Eames putting his arm around Arthurs shoulders. "Look on the bright side; your fourteen hour flight will contain snuggling, snogging and all the champagne you need."

"Eames." Ariadne grabbed his attention. "Remind me to chop your balls off later."


	12. Mrs Arthur

"Well 'Mrs. Kingsley', there's one thing we have to do before the flight tomorrow." Arthur picked up his car keys.

"What's that?" she queried, still queasy at the fact that Eames put them together.

"We have to look like a couple. The easiest way to do that is to get rings."

They drove around Paris for a half hour. Ariadne noticed many jewelry stores as Arthur cruised.

"You passed five jewelry stores." She said. "You do realize that right?"

"We're almost there." Arthur assured. "Those other places don't have much to choose from. So when we go in, we're going to have to act like a couple."

"Great," Ariadne put her hands together. "Thing is, I can't act."

"In this business, you'll have to do a little acting." He said. "Just smile, hold my hand and pretend we're engaged."

"Do you have any idea why Eames would do this?" she asked.

"I actually think it was wise of him to put us together." Arthur concluded. "That way, I can make sure no one touches you."

He pulled over to the edge of the sidewalk and parked the car by a blue granite store with necklaces displayed in the window.

"Van Cleef and Arpels?" Ariadne eyed him as if he was crazy. "Those cost like a million bucks."

"You're 'married' to a man that can buy half of Paris." He reminded her. "I don't mind Ariadne."

"Your insane." She told him. "I mean, you pass by other good stores with convincing looking jewelry and you want to buy me a ring from here?"

"That's right." Arthur exited the car and walked over to her side to open the door for her. He didn't hesitate to take her hand walking into the store. Inside, the place was as white as a bridal parlor. Everywhere there were glass cases containing diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and more. Ariadne thought some men in ski masks would crash in at any second.

"Welcome to Van Cleef and Arpels." A man in a white suit approached them, noticing they were holding hands. "I assume you two are looking for rings?"

"Yes, we sure are." Said Arthur. Ariadne hoped he couldn't feel the beat in her wrist. As he spoke to the salesman, she felt her palm sweating.

"Do you know what your interested in Madam?" the salesman asked. Ariadne was starring at Arthur's hand around hers and didn't hear him. "Madam?"

"Oh, uh, I was thinking something with a gold band that has multiple colors?"

"Certainly. Right this way."

Ariadne looked at over a million varieties of gold rings. While hunting, she had eyes on a certain sapphire. When she didn't find anything better, she pointed to it.

"I like this one."

Arthur eyed the gold ring with the sapphire in the center. Around it were circles of diamond and on the sides were diamonds and sapphires.

"So do I." In fact, that was the exact ring Arthur was eyeing. The salesman unlocked the sliding door and brought out the piece of work.

"Your lucky." He said. "I think this will fit perfectly."

"It looks like my size." She was about to take the ring from him when Arthur seemed to push his hand in. The Point Man handled the ring gently as he took Ariadne's hand. _"Oh my God what is he doing?"_ Arthur slid the ring through her finger delicately. She tried her hardest to stop her hand from shaking, while struggling to remain calm on the inside. Ariadne didn't notice how well she and the ring looked together.

"I think it looks stunning on you, dear." Ariadne swallowed through Arthur's professional acting.

"I love it. I want this one." The poor girl was in a rush to leave the store so she could be alone for the rest of the day. Arthur did not grow a tad bit insecure when she looked ready to faint.

Outside the store, Arthurs phone went off. He received a text from Eames so it had to be something humorous that he would hate.

'**Remember, you have to carry her over the threshold ;)'**

"Look Ariadne," he started. "I can see you're uncomfortable with this whole fake marriage." Arthur placed his phone back in his pocket and walked into her view.

"I'm just not good with any of that." She confessed. The last time a guy kissed her, she passed out. To make the situation worse, they were in public and paramedics were all over her acting as if she was dying. She never called that guy back since. Humiliation was cruel.

"Well maybe you should relax for the rest of the day." Arthur advised. "Go shopping and eat your favorite food."

"I really can't afford to shop in this town." She told him.

"You can now." He smirked. "Spoil yourself this one time."

"I think I've been spoiled enough." Ariadne looked at the two million Euro rock on her finger. "For being a fake wife. You could have bought a convincing fake."

"I have reasons for doing things certain ways." He said. "Now, go spoil yourself."

Ariadne liked the idea he was suggesting but decided it would be safer to pay in cash than credit. She withdrew three thousand dollars from the bank and went out to her favorite store.

During her shopping trip, all she could think about then was a_ Glee_ marathon. She didn't have the time to watch the episodes when they aired in France because she was in Kenya.

As she was about to exit the store, one more piece of merchandise got her digging for her size.

The next morning at the airport, Arthur was waiting by the doors. In one of his many suits, he was wondering what was taking her so long.

Just then, a small female brunette got out of a taxi holding a Vera Bradley travel bag. The brown shoes and butter scarf gave her identity away; the dress and the trench coat were a new feature. The Point Man found himself in awe at his 'wife' as her dress swayed in the breeze.

She gave him a friendly wave as she approached him to throw her nerves down. Arthur was studying her new outfit with slight interest in her fashion skills. The way he looked at her made her feel slightly awkward.

"You told me to spoil myself." She reminded him playfully. "So I did. Do you not like it?"

"I love it." His complement made her smile and look down to the ground. As a moment of silence ran through them, Ariadne looked up when she heard a man whistling.

Duke walked past them, giving her a wink, before heading inside. Arthur glared at him for a second then grabbed her hand.

When they passed through the sliding doors, she would have to go from nervous to lovey-dovey.


	13. Prank Planning

The two got past security without a problem, though the guards did suspect Ariadne was hiding something under her dress. A female security guard had the nerve to put her hands on Ariadne's legs to feel for weapons. When she was cleared, Ariadne didn't want anyone else coming near her. The one thing she despised about airports was going through security. They've simply gone too far looking through peoples clothes and touching their personal areas, since 9/11.

Their gate was at the very end of the airport, which was a twenty-minute walk. Arthur and Ariadne strolled hand in hand like a real couple. She found it funny how they were both wearing trench coats but hers was tan and his was black. The October weather in Paris was quite chilly and an inappropriate time to wear the dress she bought. However, it would be perfect for New Orleans.

When they reached the gate, both of them were handling their carry-ons and their coffee-to-go while still holding hands. Ariadne was surprised by the number of people at the gate. How many Parisians vacationed to New Orleans? All of the chairs were taken except one and Arthur was polite as always to give it to her.

"No," she led him to the chair and forced him to sit. Then she took a seat on his lap. In the morning, she was afraid of playing Arthur's wife. But now, she decided to enjoy it. Maybe he would steal another kiss.

She felt her phone vibrate and brought it out to see a text from Eames.

**How are those classy babies coming along? :P**

She turned her head to see Eames sitting a row back. He just smirked at her.

**STFU**, she typed and sent.

"I'm going to the ladies room." She told Arthur, standing up and walking off. In the restroom, she looked in the mirror and inspected her make up. So far, Arthur couldn't tell of she had feelings for him. Little did she know that back at the gate, a blonde woman was continuously flirting with Arthur.

"I'm married." Arthur told her, raising his finger to show her a gold metal band.

"I don't see your wife anywhere." The woman teased. As if on cue, Ariadne walked towards the gate.

"If you would please stop trying to seduce me that would be great." Arthur requested.

"She was trying to seduce you?" the woman turned around and saw a short woman, about foot smaller.

"This is the best you could do?" she snorted. Ariadne gave this woman the finger and sat back on Arthur's lap.

"It's not my fault you can't find your own husband." She snapped. "This one is taken, so piss off."

Arthur raised his eyebrows at the term 'piss off'. For one, of all women he talked to, he never heard a single one say that. The term to him was rather vulgar but it got the woman to go away like pesticide on a cockroach.

"You really had to say that?" Arthur put his hands around her waist add emphasize their lie.

"She was flirting with you and it made me mad." She explained.

"But you told her to…" he spoke softer. "Piss off."

"What's wrong with that?" she raised an eyebrow. "I seriously can't understand why it's so offensive."

"Well… I got slapped as a teenager if I said it."

"You know I'm acting." She reminded him. "You never heard me say it before. Besides, there are worse things to say than 'piss off'."

"You said you were a bad actress."

_Oh shit_, she thought. "Uh…" Ariadne was racing to find an excuse to trick him. "I had to do that before. If I told you about my past, you'd think I was lying."

"And why would I think that?" he challenged.

Ariadne looked back into the past for a light-speed flashback. The drugs, the weapon carrying, the abuse, the piercings and the term 'Greaser!' were always the first to come in mind.

"Because it's far different from who I am now."

The woman in uniform behind the desk picked up the phone and spoke into it. "Attention passengers, first class to New Orleans may now line up."

"That's us."

Ariadne got off Arthur and picked up her carry-on. He brought out both of their boarding passes and stepped in line.

"Typical." He scoffed. "Eames put himself in first class."

"What is it with you two anyway?" she questioned. "You fight like your married."

"I really try not to." He said. "But you know how immature he is."

"But you can't find a better forger."

"Sadly no." Arthur sighed. Secretly, he had enough of Eames calling him names like 'stick-in-the-mud' and 'Sinatra'. Eames sure crossed the line when he showed him that disgusting video with the two girls… He wished he never saw that. Arthur could take on anti-gravity hallways and gunmen any day but that was just foul. "He's the best at forging but the worst person to work with."

Ariadne could not give him any advice on that situation but what she could do was talk Eames out of teasing him. That however, would take a good offer. Speaking of the issue with Eames, Ariadne remembered that every year on Halloween she pulled the same prank on a different person.

Arthur was the perfect victim.

* * *

"The Marriot is the perfect place for this party." Ivory looked around the spacious ballroom at the pre-set up. There was an orange jack-o-lantern disco ball, four different bars with drink menus that had all Halloween titled drinks, a stage with a big screen standing behind it and all the musicians, bartenders and waiters were to dress up as skeletons, zombies, or mummies.

"I'm so excited, we get to sing 'Time Warp'!" Jayne jumped.

"That's a fun song." Said Lucy. "Now what I'm really looking forward to is when they scare the shit out of the guests with that exorcist girl."

"I might jizz my pants laughing." Said Jayne. "They think they're watching the trailer to my new movie, then bam!"

"Not's not all this party is having." Shane came up from behind her and slung his arm around her. "I just found out they're making a cake the size of a Lamborghini."

"A Lamborghini cake?" Lucy questioned.

"Because the Ferrari cake was taken by South Park." Ivory recalled.

Jayne thought they should have made a Jeep cake personally. But she knew that this party was not all about her. She was just performing a few songs, pranking the guests then dancing. "I just hope Rebecca Black attending is just a rumor."

"It better be." Lucy sneered. "And if Miley bothers to come, you'll take care of her."

"She's in LA, but that is true." Jayne smirked. "Then again, I wouldn't mind if she came. You know what's going to happen."


	14. The Flight

Right as the plane took off, Ariadne opened her computer and went to Netflix. She didn't care about the rules. If she wanted to finish the second season of Teen Titans by the time they landed, she would have to start watching it immediately. Ariadne tried to not focus on if Arthur would put his arm around her or not.

As she was about to watch the series, she clicked on Jaynes name to see if she missed anything to stream. She watched the film about the mentally challenged stalker

**Quest for Camelot **

**2010**

**PG-13**

**Kaylee, the young adventurous daughter of the deceased Sir Lionel (Jayne Alvers), has ambitions to become a knight in Camelot. When power-hungry Ruber (Tom Hiddelson) takes her mother hostage with plans to invade the kingdom, the escaped teen must get to Camelot before he does to warn King Arthur (Henry Cavill). She meets a blind and handsome forest hermit (Ben Jelen) and conjoined dragons (voiced by Jim Carrey and Dana Carvey) who join her to save Camelot once and for all.**

**Genres: Medieval, Musical, Adventure, Romance, Humor, Drama, Fantasy**

They made a real life version of the animated movie? Ariadne didn't think many people knew about the 1998 animation movie from Warner Brothers. She was so out of touch with Hollywood that she had no idea what they were up to. Chances are, this movie raped the original. But what else did she have to do on a long flight?

She plugged in her earphones and started the movie. It began with the knights at the round table having a meeting when a fight broke out. Sir Lionel sacrificed his life to defend the king from Ruber. There followed a snowy funeral, along with a sequence of Kaylee becoming ten years older in a few seconds. Kaylee sang a song about how she didn't belong on the farm and her desires to be like her father. The action started after when Ruber broke into her house.

When Kaylee met Garret, Ariadne's first reaction was, _'For a blind guy, he's hot! And he can sing! Oh my God, I could just melt right now!'_

She looked over to see what Arthur was doing. For a newly married couple, they seemed to be ignoring each other. She was watching Netflix with ear buds while he listened to golf wearing his big head phones.

Going back to the movie, she got to the part where Kaylee and Garret met Devin and Cornwall hiding in a dragon head. They bickered continuously, even as they were being chased by Ruber and firebreathers. Later, they broke into song, complaining about how they were better off separate. Ariadne saw Devin and Cornwall as a Siamese Arthur and Eames. Oh God, they would really be at each other's necks then.

"_I'm so tired of your nagging!" Cornwall spat._

"_And I'm so tired of your bragging!" Devin snapped._

Yep, they were Arthur and Eames in obese conjoined dragon form.

"Meow."

Ariadne looked over to see Bast standing in the aisle and taking a seat by her feet.

"No. Bad kitty." She said. "Go to your daddy." Bast ignored her and curled her tail around herself. "Uh... Rodger?" She touched his shoulder to get Arthurs attention.

"What?" He looked down and saw Bast. She was like an uncontrollable rabid fan girl in cat form.

"Your biggest fan is here."

"Just wait. We don't know whose cat it is." He remained in character as if he was in an acting competition.

Ariadne was urged to pick her up and go into third class to find Yusuf. Maybe he had to go (again) and the cat got lonely. She rubbed her emerging mane onto Arthurs shoe, with no intention of shining it a bit. Ariadne picked Bast up and put her on her lap.

"Are you bored?" she asked in a sweeter voice. For a second, she felt like a cat lady. Good thing for her though that Bast wasn't her cat and she was 'married' to a handsome but stern gentleman.

If he was like any man in literature or on TV, Ariadne couldn't match him. He was mysterious like Bill Compton and had the same balls as Fox Mulder. For the strangest reason, he reminded her of the kid from _3__rd__ Rock From the Sun_. One thing she was completely sure of though; he was the most mesmerizing of all men.

She used to tell herself that she would never hang with a guy with slicked down hair and lots of money. She would meet a guy who had a normal job, wore casual clothes and was outgoing and funny. And his name wouldn't be epic either.

'_Stop thinking about him!'_ Ariadne snapped at herself. _'He knows nothing now, so keep it that way! You are not a Bella Swan! You are not a Bella Swan!'_

"Excuse me, I'm so sorry." Yusuf came over almost panicked. Ariadne could see him sweating a little.

"I take it this is yours?" Arthur asked as if interviewing someone for a big job. Ariadne handed him Bast. Yusuf walked away, his lecture to her fading as he returned to his seat before the flight attendant could yell at him.

For the rest of the flight, Ariadne ended up watching the second season of Teen Titans. Every then and now, Arthur would peer over to see if what she was doing was appropriate. She couldn't be talking to any friends in any way during the mission.

When the sun went down, a plate of chicken was served for dinner. After eating the average tasting air service meal, Ariadne put all her things away and pulled her seat back. Much sleep was needed and she wouldn't get any if she was in the back. Ariadne put her face against a small lumpy pillow provided by the airline and closed her eyes.

A couple minutes later, momentum took her as if she was a baby in a rocking crib. Outside her closed vision, Arthur was pulling a blanket over her. As warmth attacked her body, he brought her close to him.

The kiss on her cheek made the whole identity idea far more confusing.


	15. Trick or Treat

"_While many people sing like angels, others sing like demons." News anchor of Good Morning New Orleans, David Broad was looking right into the camera after the commercial break was over. "Joining us today in the studio is no other than Jayne Alvers. We're happy you have you on the show Jayne."_

"_I'm happy to be here." Jayne sat up strait on the other loveseat on the set. The glass wall behind them showed fans and onlookers with signs. Instead of an expensive dress that she would only use once, she had on a polka dot shirt with denim shorts and converse. _

"_So you've been in New Orleans for a while shooting a movie with Dina Granger. Can you tell us what it's about?" Whenever she was in an interview, Jayne liked to answer her question thoroughly without giving anything away._

"_It takes place in a small town that get's struck by several tornados in one day." Jayne explained. "I basically play a waitress involved with saving whoever I can. For the part, I wound up exercising more than before. Running is one thing, but running with wind pulling you back is a different story."_

"_So did you get sucked in?"_

"_I can't tell. You'll have to wait for it to come out."_

"_And what's the movie?" David asked. "Just tell me the title."_

"_It's called 'Angry Air'." Jayne clued in. "The first preview of the movie will play at the Halloween party going on at the Marriot."_

"_And who will you go as?"_

"_My friends and I are going as pairs, so we're all characters from the same series." Jayne sounded excited. "Only a fortune teller could guess my costume right and that's when I began to believe what he said!"_

Arthur was watching the interview as the plane was drawing a conclusion to its expedition. They were above Louisiana when the flight attendant over the intercom told everyone to pack up. Arthur looked to the seat beside his to see Ariadne was fast asleep. Not asleep, she looked dead. Arthur felt her forehead to check and felt nothing unusual. Since all her things were already stored, he figured to wait until they would actually let them leave.

People from the back started pouring out as quickly as they could. Arthur waited like a guard dog for the aisles to clear. His hand gripped Ariadne's shoulder.

"Olivia…" he shook her gently. "We're here. Wake up."

Ariadnes eyelids rose slowly as Arthur took her coat and threw it over his arm.

"We're here?" she asked tiredly.

"Yes, we're here."

Ariadne stretched her arms and stood up, grabbing her carry-on and walking out like a zombie. After surviving customs, Arthur pulled over a taxi. New Orleans was a colorful city in a way different than Las Vegas; all the streets were prepared for All Hallows Eve. Through the glass, Arthur could hear all the jazz bands and street dancers.

New Orleans seemed like the Emerald City of Oz with purple and gold in the mix; there wasn't a care in the world. Everyone was happy. Too bad Ariadne didn't feel the southern cheer; she was so tired after going though strict customs that she just wanted to snooze. She would distract herself on her laptop, but the battery was out.

After reaching the hotel, it began to pour. Rain blazed down to the concrete. The taxi pulled over to the front, which was shielding them from nature's tears. Ariadne followed behind Arthur like a curious little girl. She wanted to see how he always got away with fooling people.

The person at the front desk was a petite woman with tan skin like all the locals and green eyes. She smiled as Arthur came up. Ariadne watched as Arthur checked them in. When he said, "One bed please." Ariadne started having too many ideas.

"Here are your keycards, zand your in suite 211. Enjoy your stay Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley."

"Thank you." Arthur nodded his head and pulled their luggage cart out of the next customers way.

"One bed?" Ariadne spat.

"Don't think of it like that. We're married. Happy married couples share a bed."

"So we take turns?"

"If there's a couch, I'll take that." Arthur replied calmly as the elevator opened to the second floor. "Now when we go in, feel free to go right back to sleep. We meet Mr. Granger at seven for dinner."

As he opened the door, Ariadne was reminded of earlier times. She recalled walking into the hotel room with him before. This time they weren't setting up exploding timers. The room was nothing like the one in the inception; it was less modern and a little more colorful, like the city.

"I'm going to take a shower." Arthur placed their bags down beside the bed. "Please, rest." His arm hovered over to the bed. Ariadne took her laptop out of her bag and went around the bed in search for a plug. The lamps were connected to the wall and powered by batteries so they didn't need any. Looking on both sides, there was no plug in sight.

"There are no sockets by the bed." She said. When she designed hotels, she was sure to put the plugs beside the beds. It was one of her architectural pet peeves. Arthur looked over at the desk.

"There's a plug there." He said. "But seriously, take a nap. I don't want you dozing off at dinner." Arthur gently took her laptop from her hands and strung the cord out of her bag.

"Thank you Rodger Rabbit." Ariadne spoke in a different, higher voice. She crawled onto the squishy comforter and dug her head into the pillow.

"Take off your shoes before you go to sleep." He ordered, noticing her shoes were still on. She kicked them off carelessly and let them hit the wall. Arthur sighed and picked them up, placing them down neatly by the door.

If she played her cards right, he would be her maid in no time. Maybe she'd get him to wear the costume. The hissing of the shower served as a rainy night sound effect. It soothed Ariadne into falling back to sleep.

_Five girls ranging from the ages eleven to thirteen looked over the most recent treats in their buckets before running to the next house. One had her hair in a high ponytail, wearing yoga pants and a T-shirt. Another one wore a leopard cat suit. The third girl had a blonde wig with a fluffy coat over her baby blue dress. Another one was wearing a union jack dress, her hair color making it the perfect costume and the last was wearing a simple black dress. It was her first time getting to wear one and she was overjoyed. Obviously, these girls refused to wear jackets unless if it was for their costume._

_This year, their parents permitted them to go trick-or-treating without supervision. There would be patrol officers everywhere anyway. One mother of three of these girls had no worries and assured the other two moms that the girls were fine._

_They stepped up to a house with two jack-o-lanterns poorly shaved and the one in the cat suit rang the doorbell. The green door shifted to show an elderly woman in an orange sweater, holding a decorative bowl._

"_Trick or treat!" they all said. Their voyage was only beginning so these tweens were full of energy. They'd even be more hyper after eating their candy._

"_Oh my goodness, the Spice Girls are here!" She squawked. "Let's see if I can find out who's who… Jules, your Ginger Spice."_

"_Yup." The red head nodded excitingly. "Easy."_

"_And Mirra, your Posh Spice!" The old lady tossed a Snickers into Jules's sack and got another one out for Mirra. "Jenaya, your Baby Spice, am I right?"_

"_Yes you are Mrs. Benson." Jenaya back in the day had a toddler voice._

"_Matches you well." Mirra teased. Sporty Spice punched her shoulder._

"_Maggie, your Scary Spice." Jenaya received a Butterfinger and Maggie was being given a Kit Kat._

"_And last but not least, Ariadne! Sporty Spice!"_

_The thirteen-year-old future architect accepted the Three Musketeers bar she was being offered. "Aren't you freezing?"_

"_No." Ariadne shrugged. "It's not winter yet."_

"_I know, but you know Canada this time of year!" The jolly old woman exclaimed._

"_Thank you Mrs. Benson." The girls said at different times before turning around to take the next house._

"_I hope we get so much candy, we'll be sick for school tomorrow!" Mirra grinned._

"_We'd have to eat everything we got." Maggie pointed out. They conquered their first street and proceeded to the next one. At their fifth house, they heard the sound of one of their moms._

"_Girls!" Bliss Cavandar was running towards them, dragging her Belle costume along with her. "Girls, stop!" There was panic and distress in her voice. She was supposed to be partying! The girls waited for her to come to them. "We need to go home right now!"_

"_Why?" Mirra snapped. "We're not done!"_

"_I'm sorry Sweetie but we really have to go!" her breath was seen fogging up the air. "We'll get in trouble with the police if we don't."_

"_What did you do?" Ariadne asked. "Mom!"_

"_Home, now! I swear if you go home, I'll buy each of you a sack of candy! Maggie and Jules, I'm taking you both to your homes."_

_Ariadnes heart was screaming like a banshee as their excursion was cut off. What frightened her so much was that her mother wouldn't tell them anything. At home, they sat in the family room, not even bothering to eat what they had._

"_Go eavesdrop." Mirra told Ariadne. "I wanna know what's going on."_

_Bliss was in the kitchen talking on the phone. Ariade crawled to the entrance and tucked herself into the corner. Her ears opened up to work as recorders._

"_They're saying that Emma, who babysat the girls, was found dead in her front yard." Bliss explained to Jules's mom. "Rumor has it that she was beheaded, and this mad man is still out there. He killed another neighbor too… you know Mrs. Benson."_

_Mrs. Benson, the woman Ariadne was talking to less than an hour ago? Ariadne felt a glob in her throat._

"_She fell down the stairs and broke her neck. But who's to say it was an accident?"_

"_Hey, what are you doing Princess?" Ariadnes head snapped to see her dad. "You shouldn't be listening to other peoples conversations you know."_

"_I know…" Ariadne stated, feeling herself about to cry. "But Mrs. Benson…"_

"_I know." Her father sighed. "Go to your room and eat your candy. We're safe here. Same with the clones!" He yelled out to alert the twins._

_In Ariadnes room, the girls sat on the bed, slowly eating their candy. They expected a much better joy out of the moment._

"_What did you hear?" Jenaya asked shyly._

"_Emma is dead." Ariadne explained. "So is Mrs. Benson."_

"_How?" Mirra asked._

"_I heard she fell down the stairs." Ariadne explained further. "Someone pushed her."_

"_And Emma?"_

_Ariadne sighed. "I'm gonna go peep and see if I catch him." To them, 'peeping' was taking a telescope or binoculars and spying on a person. The neighbor they peeped at was always in her underwear, dancing. It was almost better than TV._

"_What if he looks at you?" Jenaya asked worried._

"_He won't, Tweek." Ariadne placed her eyes over the lens. "She's there, taking her makeup off and talking on the phone."_

"_As usual." Mirra snorted. They waited a few moments._

"_Oh no!" Ariadne took deep breaths. "I think I see him!"_

"_Where?" The middle sister exclaimed. Ariadnes fingers gripped over the plastic funnel. Her eye felt magnetically attached to the lens._

"_Ariadne!" Mirra growled in frustration. "Ariadne!"_

"Ariadne!"

She was shaken back to the hotel room as a twenty-three year old. Arthur had his hands on her shoulders like eagle talons. The first thing she noticed was that he didn't put on his shirt yet.

"What happened?" she wondered, looking up to him.

"It starts off with Emma and Mrs. Benson. I believe you can explain to me the rest."

Ariadne sighed and faced the fact. "I'm not done dreaming."


	16. Arthur Gets Tricked

She expected him to start interrogating her about it. Arthur just looked over at her calmly, showing that he's seen her case before. What really distracted her was that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"It was a haunting memory, wasn't it?" he predicted. The architect nodded.

"A bad Halloween memory." She said specifically. "Has it happened to you?"

"It's completely normal." He said. "When you think you're done dreaming on your own, sometimes they come back and they turn out to be things we wish we forgot."

"I wish I could forget. But it's hard to forget the time I witnessed that mad man murder my neighbor… I didn't like her at all, but still…"

"You witnessed a real murder." He repeated almost skeptical.

"On Halloween." She added. "When I was thirteen, my town was massacred on that night. Twelve people were murdered, three of which I knew personally. Some crazy guy escaped the asylum he was living in and ran to our town."

"It sounds like the plot of a Halloween movie."

"Exactly." She nodded. "I felt like I was in a bad horror movie."

"So, do you know what happened to Emma and Mrs. Benson?" he inquired. "You don't have to tell me, I'm just curious. I really want to look into it."

"Google search 'Perry Sound Massacre' and you'll see the articles." She said. "Mrs. Benson was this old woman my sisters and I liked. She always gave away king size candy bars, not the stupid fun sized ones. That night, I overheard my mom say on the phone that she fell down the stairs and broke her neck."

"And Emma?"

"Your gonna love this one. Emma was my babysitter who hated Halloween. She went home early from a party with her boyfriend. He was in the house while she took all the decorations down. There were these sticks with sheets over them to make ghosts… and this crazy guy sliced off her head and put it under one of the sheets. Her boyfriend found her limbs hanging from a tree."

"Did you see this?"

"Fortunately no. But when I was older, I got to see the crime scene photos." Ariadne turned to looked at the clock. "What time is dinner?"

"Seven. We have some time." He brought out one of his shirts and buttoned it up.

"Alright." Ariadne nodded. "I'm fine."

Arthur nodded and stepped back into the bathroom. Now was the perfect time. She ran to the desk and turned on her laptop. On Goggle, she typed, 'Scary maze game' and accessed the website. Immediately, she cranked up the sound. As Arthur came out, she pretended to play it and fail.

"Arthur, can you help me with this maze game?" she asked sweetly. "It's so addictive, but I can't pass level three." Arthur came over as he finished straitening his tie.

**The Maze**

**Test your skills! Try to reach the goal without touching the walls. How steady is your hand? Let's find out! Try to beat all four levels!**

**Sound effects will help.**

"I don't play games online."

"But it's a maze game." She insisted. "I know you love mazes. It's fun, you should try it!"

Arthur sighed. "Alright, I'll give it one try." He sat down in the desk chair and pressed play. "It's going to be a little harder without a mouse."

The first level was easy. It was an upside-down 'L', the horizontal line being much skinnier than the vertical one. Arthur reached the red box at the end and advanced to level two.

"Doesn't seem so hard." He said calmly. Arthur started moving the curser left, down, right, down when he touched the black wall. "It goes back to level one? Well I'll try again." He finished levels one and two by slowly moving the curser through the paths. Level three had several lines, getting thinner as he went. "What does level four look like?" he asked her.

Ariadne stepped away and waited for the fireworks to come. Arthur led the curser to the first thin line. He looked at the monitor more closely, trying to focus. "I think I got it…"

_AHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHH!_

The girl from The Exorcist screamed into his face. Arthur's body scrambled as his nerves jolted to his brains. The chair rolled back and fell over, leaving his legs in the air. "Oh shit!" he cursed.

Ariadne was in the corner laughing. Tears came down her face. She actually fooled him! She knew that man needed to have some fun, plus it was a tradition. As Arthur got up, she felt a little bad.

"Please don't hurt me." She said, still in giggles. "At least Eames didn't do it."

Arthur looked over at the mirror to check his hair. She could see a hint of a smirk.

"Well excellent job Ariadne." He said. "You actually fooled me. Brava."

"Wait… your not mad?" she was surprised. "I thought you'd be steaming."

"You would think that." He agreed. "But thank you."

Ariadne looked up confused. "What?"

"You showed me how to get back at Eames." He said. "And if you can trick me… you can definitely trick him." Arthur clapped his hands. "Nice one."

"I do it to someone every year." She explained. "To be honest, I thought you wouldn't react at all!"

Arthur took a deep breath. "I'm not a statue." He stated. "And before we go, I have to remind you that you won't be going under for this one."

"What?" Ariadne almost reacted like a brat, used to getting what she wanted. "I thought Yusuf was."

"It's only one dream." He reminded her. "You need to keep watch. That's what you get." He pointed at the monitor still showing the demon. "For that. For playing a joke on your boss."

"Look on the bright side. Eames won't know…" The idea of staying awake and watching a clock bored her. "Is there anything different I can do?"

Arthur shook his head. "It won't be necessary."

"What exactly won't?"

"Spying on the mark." Said Arthur. "Before the extraction."

"You mean I'd have to dress up and spy on her?" She scoffed. "No thank you."


	17. In the Bayou

Fifteen minutes before leaving, Ariadne went and changed into another new dress. It was two layers, both solid red. The first layer was a tight tube dress, and above it was a coating of lace. The lace went over Ariadnes shoulders. After combing her hair and putting on a little makeup, she stepped out and went to her duffle.

Arthur watched her as she dug around all her clothes to find a certain pair of shoes. Once she saw a pair of black pumps, she threw them out. It really bothered Arthur that she didn't take good care of her clothes. He tried not to stare as she slipped her feet into angles to put the shoes on.

"Do I look ok?"

Her dress was in no way provocative and her makeup wasn't heavy. Arthur slipped his arm around her. "You look great."

They were picked up by one of Grangers workers and directed to the bayou where Duke and Yusuf were waiting. In the river, there was a small white steamboat. It reminded Duke of the boat from _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_. He wondered if they were going to go through a disturbing tunnel. When Arthur and Ariadne stepped out of the car, they were making no contact.

She heard him whistle again and walked towards him, trying to keep her blush down.

"Every time I see you, you get prettier." He complemented. "Where did you get your clothes?"

_Where did you get your clothes?_ What kind of man asked that question? Her sisters might have asked her that right away but Duke?

"There was this vintage store in Paris and all the clothes in the window were cute so I went in and bought some stuff."

"Well you have great taste." He praised. "I never saw a red lacy dress that looked good but this is gorgeous."

As their car left, another one pulled in. The group looked over, waiting for Eames to come out any second. The driver got out and reached for the door instead. When he opened it, Eames was in the seat looking into a mirror. He was still working on his hair, though he had the whole trip.

"C'mon buddy, Mr. Granger won't wait z'all day." The Cajun driver snapped impatiently.

"You're my driver, not my boss." He said.

"Eames!" Arthur yelled out. "The boats getting ready to leave!"

Ariadne, Duke and Yusuf hopped on, the architect getting a spot on the middle. Arthur walked onto the surface and sat next to Duke.

"City traffic it's hell, no?" the steamboat captain said. "If it not Mardi Gras, z'en Halloween."

"I've never been here before." Said Ariadne. "But I love it so far."

"Well little lady, if you like to party, you've come to ze right city!" he chuckled and took out his rifle.

"Are there people following us?" she whispered to Duke a little fearful.

"Ze rifle is for ze gators." Said the captain. "Ze've taken over ze bayou."

"So they can climb on here when the boat is moving, is that what your saying?"

"It's alright." Yusuf assured. "There won't be any alligators."

"Or walking sea monsters." Eames teased. "Walking gillmen who come onto boats and take the pretty woman as a bride!" He leapt forward and grabbed her shoulders, almost making her jump out her seat.

"I swear Eames you do that again I'll push you in!" She threatened. Duke slipped an arm around her to comfort her. Eames looked over at the way they were sitting.

It was a fifteen-minute ride to the house. Ariadne observed the building as she always did to see it looked like the houses in her hometown, except dirty.

"It looks sloppy from the front. But it's really nice." The captain insisted. The steamboat came to a slow stop. Arthur stepped off first and assisted Ariadne. The team then went inside the house.

They were greeted with a nice dinner redwood table with low lighting. In the center of the table were sliced varities of peppers for decoration. Granger was sitting at the end with a Cajun cocktail already in his hand. He looked like a French version of the Godfather.

"Evening." He opened his arms to emphasize his excitement for their arrival. "I hope New Orleans is doin' you well."

"Very well Mr. Granger." Duke shook his open hand. "We trust you're doing fine as well."

"I'm fantastic." Granger brought out a cigar and lit it. "Chef!" Granger yelled at the top of his lungs for the cook. "Bring out the hush puppies now!"

"Hush puppies?" Ariadne questioned after sitting down.

"That's one of ze appetizer. I'm sure you'll like 'em." The movie director blew out some expensive smoke.

"Allow me to introduce the team." Duke turned his head over to the members. "Yusuf is our chemist, his job is to formulate the correct sedative. Arthur is our point."

"It's my job to research the mark thoroughly and protect everyone." Arthur explained.

"And Eames over there is our forger." Duke craned his arm over to Eames.

"I'm basically impersonating Jaynes sidekicks."

Granger had a chuckle after Eames mentioned sidekicks. "So you're goin' in as a teenage girl? Tell me how that goes."

"You know what I do." Said Duke. "Ariadne here is the architect. She's one of the best in the business."

"This is only my second project." She mentioned after hearing that complement. She was a little tired of all the praise.

Mr. Granger nodded, releasing the heavy smoke he had been holding for too long. "So…" he leaned toward Ariadne. "This iz only your second time?"

"It's only my second time." She confirmed.

"So how you like New Orleans?"

"It's amazing. So lively and colorful." Ariadne described.

"Then you'll love ze food." A couple of waiters walked out with trays of what most of the people identified as chicken strips. "Now zese are some of ze best appatizers."

"They look like McDonalds." Eames commented.

"Try em. Ze're different." Eames picked up a strip and popped the first half in his mouth. Mr. Grangers attention was back on Ariadne. "Now would ze lady like a drink?"

"Do you have Canadian beer by any chance?" Ariadne questioned shyly.

"Absolutely." Granger looked back at the kitchen door. "Chef! Bring ze lady a Bud Light and get those hush puppies!"

"This is very good." Eames commented. "What are they called?"

"Jalapeño poppers." Granger smirked as Eames froze. His eyes widened as his face turned pink. Ariadne had to clamp her hand on her mouth to prevent laughing. Duke was already there as with Yusuf.

"Oh fuck…" Eames spit the popper out on his napkin and snatched his water glass. Gulping down the whole beverage, it wasn't enough. His tongue still sizzled after he used Dukes water and then Yusufs glasses.

"The kitchen Eames!" Arthur snapped. He felt like the only professional in the room. Eames turned around and raced into the kitchen as the chef was coming out with the platter of hush puppies.

"Some people just can't take ze heat." He sighed.


End file.
